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. I. 





































































































THE 


MISSION OF THE SPIRIT 


OR, 


THE OFFICE AND WORK OF THE COMFORTER 
IN HUMAN REDEMPTION. 


By Rev. L. R DUNN. 


“'O <5e TrapuKhrjToe, to nvevfia to uyiov .” — John xiv, 26. 



CARLTON & LANAHAN. 

SAN FRANCISCO: E. THOMAS. 
CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WALDEN 
187 1. 





Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 
CARLTON & LANAHAN, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 


Y\VC\< \ o 


PREFACE. 




H I S is the dispensation of the Spirit. 


We are living in the very midst of 
its culminating glories. The rushing fires of 
another Pentecost are coming upon the Church 
now as they have not during the centuries pre- 
ceding the one in which we live. All eyes are 
lifted expectant to the everlasting hills, where 
intercedes a glorified and exalted Christ. Or 
ever his triumphal chariot had wheeled upward 
to the gates of pearl, he left his promise and his 
pledge to the Church of the wonderful gift of the 
Comforter. That promise and that pledge have 
only been fulfilled in part — in individual in- 
stances and in certain localities. The Church, 
overrun with worldliness and beclouded by un- 
belief, has been comparatively powerless for the 
want of the full baptism of the Comforter. And 
the world, this poor, lost, fallen world, still re- 
mains unransomed from its sins and their conse- 
quences. The great work of preparation for its 


4 Preface. 

complete redemption seems, however, well-nigh 
finished. The mountains have been leveled, and 
the valleys upreared ; the crooked places have 
been straightened, and the rough places smooth- 
ened, and the time for “ all flesh to see the sal- 
vation of our God ” is at hand. 

What is now wanted is a universal pentecost, 
not only that all the babbling millions of earth 
may hear of “ the wonderful works of God ” in 
their “ own tongue wherein they were born,” but 
that they may be “pricked to the heart” by the 
arrows of the convincing Spirit, and be saved 
by his power. 

It is a somewhat remarkable fact that, with 
all the teachings of the Divine Head in reference 
to the Comforter, with all the luminous promises 
of his gifts and grace, so little, comparatively, 
has been written concerning him. The world 
is full of books about Christ, and the number 
of them is constantly increasing ; but we can 
almost count on our finger ends the books writ- 
ten specifically about the Holy Ghost. And 
yet his sovereign agency in the completion 
and consummation of redemption’s work is con- 
stantly acknowledged in the word of God. Why 
this is so, that so little has been written, we can 


Preface. 


5 


scarcely tell ; and yet, because it is so, there is 
much of ignorance, doubt, and unbelief in the 
Church as to his work and his power. Many 
huge volumes of theology devote only a few 
pages to the consideration of his Godhead, his 
offices, and his work. There is now and then 
a sermon preached upon these all-important 
themes ; but too seldom are they introduced 
into the sacred desk. 

The author of this book has long felt that a 
treatise bearing directly upon these questions is 
a desideratum in the literature of the Christian 
Church. In conversation with several leading 
divines in his own and other denominations, he 
has found that they entertained the same views 
and feelings, and he has been encouraged by 
their advice to proceed with the preparation of 
this volume. How successful he may have been 
in the performance of his work the reader will 
judge. Due acknowledgment has been made 
of the authors from whose works quotations 
have been made, in foot-notes, and therefore no 
mention of their names is needed here. 

The author fully believes that the coming and 
the crowning conflict of the Church will be 
about the truths dwelt upon in this volume. 


6 Preface. 

Indeed, there is, even now, “ skirmishing all along 
the line.” The great aim of modern infidelity is 
to ignore all spiritual agencies ; to banish God 
from the world ; to deny all miraculous agency 
and all moral regeneration ; to proclaim a cold, 
dull, dead materialism ; and to bind the universe 
in the chains of fixed, irreversible and inviolable 
law. If the writer has made it to appear that 
there is not only a supernatural and superhu- 
man, but a Divine Agency, working out great 
spiritual results, and effecting great moral re- 
generations — an agent who, because he is God, 
is capable of bringing about the complete trans- 
formation and revivification of a fallen and dead 
humanity, and who is able and willing and 
ready to do this work now — he will be glad that 
he has contributed something that will serve to 
call attention to the ever-blessed Comforter. 

Bespeaking the indulgence of the critical 
reader, and beseeching the earnest, prayerful 
reading of this book by all classes of the minis- 
try and laity of the evangelical Churches, the 
author sends forth this volume with many 
prayers that all may find a “ blessing in it.” 

L. R. D. 

St. Paul’s Parsonage, Elizabeth , N. J. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAOS 

I. The Personality and Godhead of the 

Comforter 13 

II. The Promise of the Comforter 24 

— III. The Gift of the Comforter the Evi- 
dence of Christ's Ascension and Me- 
diation 39 

IV. The full Bestowment of the Comforter 
Conditioned upon the Departure of 

Christ from the World 45 

V. The Gift of the Comforter — what it 

Comprises 67 

VI. The Comforter the Source of the In- 
spiration of the Scriptures 75 

VII. The Comforter Convincing the World 

of Sin — the Spirit of Bondage 93 

VIII. The Comforter as the Regenerator. . . . 107 

IX. The Comforter as the Witness-bearer. 115 

X. Objections to the Doctrine of the Di- 
rect Witness of the Comforter Con- 
sidered 130 

XI. The Comforter as the Sealer of God’s 
Saints, and as the Earnest in their 

Hearts 141 

XII. The Comforter as our Intercessor 151 

XIII. The Comforter as a Leader and Guide 163 

XIV. The Comforter as the Sanctifier 178 

XV. The Comforter Resisted, Quenched, 

Grieved 194 

XVI. The Sin against the Holy Ghost 204 

XVII. The Comforter and the Ministry 229 

XVIII. The Comforter and the Church 257 

XIX. The Dispensation of the Comforter the 

most Glorious and the Last 2S3 


VENI SAN.CTE SPIRITUS.* 


I. 

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, 

Et emitte coelitus, 

Lucis tuae radium. 

Veni, pater pauperum, 

Veni, dator munerum, 

Veni lumen cordium. 

II. 

Consolator optime, 

Dulcis hospes animae, 

Dulce refrigerium. 

In labore requies, 

In aestu temperies, 

In fletu solatium. 

III. 

O lux beatissima ! 

Reple cordis intima 
Tuorum fidelium. 

Sine tuo numine, 

Nihil est in homine, 

Nihil est innoxium. 

* Written at the beginning of the eleventh century. 


The following translation of this inimitable hymn is from 
the chaste and elegant pen of Dr. Abraham Coles of Newark, 

N. J. 

I. 

Come, O Holy Spirit, come, 

And from Thy celestial home 
Of Thy light a ray impart ! 

Come Thou, Father of the poor ! 
Come Thou, giver of heaven’s store ! 
Come Thou, light of every heart ! 

II. 

Promised Comforter, and best, 

Of the soul the dearest Guest, 

Sweet Refreshment here below, 
Rest, in labor, to the feet, 

Coolness in the scorching heat, 

Solace in the time of woe. 

III. 

O most blessed Light ! the heart’s 
Innermost, most hidden parts 
Of Thy faithful people, fill ! 

Not without Thy favor can 
Any thing be good in man, 

Any thing that is not ill. 


io Veni Sancte Spiritus. 

IV. 

Lava quod est sordidum, 

Riga quod est aridum 
Sana quod est saucium ! 

Flecte quod est rigidum, 

Fove quod est frigidum 
Rege quod est devium ! 

V. 

Da tuis fidelibus, 

In te confidentibus, 

Sanctum septenarium : * 

Da virtutis meritum, 

Da salutis exitium, 

Da perenne gaudium ! 

Robertus Rex Francis. 
* The seven gifts of the Spirit. 


Veni Sancte Spiritus 

IV. 

What is sordid make Thou clean ; 
What is dry make moist and green 
What is wounded heal for aye. 
Bend what’s rigid to Thy will ; 
Warm Thou whatsoe’er is chill ; 
Guide what’s devious and astray. 

V. 

To thy faithful given be — 

Those confiding still in Thee — 
Graciously the holy seven ; 

Give Thou virtue’s recompense, 
Give a safe departure hence, 

Give th’ eternal joy of heaven. 




THE 


MISSION OF THE SPIRIT. 


CHAPTER I. 

PERSONALITY AND GODHEAD OF THE COMFORTER. 

“ T BELIEVE in the Holy Ghost.” So 
-*• universal Christendom has given utter- 
ance to its credo during the roll of the centuries. 
But while this utterance has been uniform and 
universal, the interpretations given to it have 
widely differed. The Greek Church, while hold- 
ing to his essential Godhead, teaches that he 
“ proceeds only from the Father.” The Romish, 
as well as the Evangelical Protestant Church, 
holds to the procession “from the Father and 
the Son.” The Unitarian or Socinian Church, 
however differing in its views as to the charac- 
ter of Christ, denies the personality and God- 
head of the Holy Ghost, and looks upon him as 
merely an attribute, an emanation, or an influ- 


14 The Mission of the Spirit . 

ence. For ages past fierce controversies have 
been waged by those occupying these different 
stand-points. The history of these controversies 
is of deep interest to the Christian scholar ; but 
it is no part of the design of this volume to 
enter upon this field. 

Nor is this struggle yet ended. It is more 
than probable that as Atheism has denied the 
existence of God, and as Arianism has denied 
the divinity of Christ, so the enemies of God 
and of his truth will assail the divinity and per- 
sonality of the Holy Ghost. This, indeed, may 
be the last great struggle which the “Truth of 
God ” may have to endure before the glories of 
millennial day shall burst upon this world. The 
struggle with the Atheist is over. The strug- 
gle with the Rationalist, Pantheist, Spiritualist, 
and Scientist must soon close ; but the strug- 
gle with the “ blasphemers against the Holy 
Ghost” is coming on. I would do my part 
toward preparing the Church for this final con- 
flict. In so doing, I shall endeavor to state, 
illustrate, and enforce the teachings of the word 
of the Lord concerning the character and per- 
fections of the Paraclete, and his offices and re- 
lations in the economy of human redemption. 


i5 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

I shall now undertake to prove that the Holy 
Ghost is a Person distinct from the Father and 
the Son y and not merely an Attribute or an Ema- 
nation from either. The evidence adduced to 
sustain this position is from the word of God. 
In the very nature of the case there is, there 
can be, no other. No man can read that word 
with any degree of care without noticing that 
there is a Being constantly referred to as acting 
with the Father, or with the Son, or with both ; 
and that that Being is called by the names, bears 
the titles, possesses the attributes, and performs 
the acts of God. Masculine pronouns and rel- 
atives in the Greek of the New Testament are 
used with the neuter noun jt vevfj,a — spirit ; thus 
showing that the writers of its books intended to 
teach his personality. “ I will pray the Father, 
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he 
may abide with you forever ; even the Spirit of 
truth ; whom the world cannot receive, because 
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him : but ye 
know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall 
be in you.” John xiv, 1 6, 17. “But the Com- 
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Fa- 
ther will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things.” John xiv, 26. “ But when the Com- 


1 6 The Mission of the Spirit . 

forter is come, whom I will send unto you from 
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which pro- 
ceeded from the Father, he shall testify of me.” 
John xv, 2 6. “ And when he is come, he will 

reprove the world of sin.” John xvi, 8. “When 
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you 
into all truth : for he shall not speak of himself ; 
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he 
speak : and he will show you things to come. 
He shall glorify me : for he shall receive of 
mine.” John xvi, 13, 14. Now any interpreta- 
tion which makes the Holy Spirit an Attribute 
or an Emanation renders these, and many other 
portions of the word of God, utterly unmeaning. 

It is well known that at the first Arius re- 
garded the Holy Ghost as a creature, created 
by Christ ; but afterward his personality was 
denied by the Arians ; and the view since held 
by them is that he is the exerted energy, or 
power, of God. Let us regard this view in the 
light of other portions of the word of God. 

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy 
Ghost and with power.” Acts x, 38. The Arian in- 
terpretation would make it read, “ God anointed 
Jesus with the holy power of God, and with 
power.” Again, “ Now the God of hope fill you 


1 7 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may 
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy 
Ghost.” Rom. xv, 13. That is, according to 
the Arian view, by the power of the holy 
power of God. “ Through mighty signs and 
wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.” 
Rom. xv, 19. That is, mighty signs and won- 
ders by the power of the power of God. “ In 
demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 
1 Cor. ii, 4. That is, demonstration of the power 
and of power. These portions of Scripture are 
sufficient to prove his personality, and to show 
the senselessness of the Arian interpretation. 
But the Paraclete is not only a person ; he is 
also a divine person. To prove this, I shall 
proceed to show that the Names , the Attributes , 
and the Acts of God are ascribed to him. 

1. And first the Names. The apostle Peter said 
to Ananias, “ Why hath Satan filled thine heart to 
lie to the Holy Ghost ? . . . Thou hast not lied unto 
men, but unto God.” Acts v, 3, 4. Here we see 
that the Holy Ghost is called God. “ Now the 
Lord is that Spirit.” 2 Cor. iii, 17. “F or who hath 
known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct 
him ?” 1 Cor. ii, 16. “ For who hath known the 

mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his coun- 
2 


1 8 The Mission of the Spirit . 

selor?” Rom. xi, 34. Both these passages are 
evidently quotations from Isaiah : “ Who hath 
directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his 
Counselor hath taught him ? ” Isa. xl, 1 3. “ And 

the Lord direct your hearts into the love of 
God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” 
2 Thess. iii, 5. Now this person, thus prayer- 
fully addressed, is called the Lord, is regarded 
as able to direct the hearts of the Thessalonians, 
and to inspire them with patience ; and prayer is 
offered to him by an inspired apostle. Y et he is 
evidently neither God the F ather nor God the Son. 
Hence we see that the highest names, “ God ” 
and “ the Lord,” are given to the Holy Ghost. 

2. With equal clearness the Attributes of God 
are ascribed to him. 

Eternity. — “ Christ, who through the eternal 
Spirit offered himself without spot to God.” 
Heb. ix, 14. 

Omnipotence. — This is so frequently ascribed 
to him as to seem to afford some show of reason 
for the Arian view that he is the power of God. 

Omniscience. — “ The Spirit searcheth all 
things, yea, the deep things of God.” “ The 
things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit 
of God.” 1 Cor. ii, 10, 1 1. 


19 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Omnipresence . — “ Whither shall I go from thy 
Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy pres- 
ence ? ” Psa. cxxxix, 7. “ What ! know ye not 

that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost 
which is in you?” 1 Cor. vi, 19. But this is 
said of all believers. Now, then, if the body of 
each Christian is the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
then he must be present with, and abide in, a 
multitude at the same time, and in widely 
different localities ; and to do this he must be 
omnipresent. 

Holiness . — “ The Holy Ghost.” “ Holy Spirit.” 
“ Spirit of Holiness.” And in the New Testa- 
ment he bears this emphatic name no less than 
ninety-three times.* 

Truth . — “ When lie, the Spirit of truth, is 
come.” John xvi, 13. 

Goodness. — “ Thy good Spirit,” Neh. ix, 20. 
“Thy Spirit is good.” Psa. cxliii, 10. 

Glory. — “ The spirit of glory and of God.” 
1 Pet. iv, 14. 

3. The Acts of God are ascribed to him. 

Creation. — “ The Spirit of God moved upon the 
face of the waters.” Gen. i, 2. “ By his Spirit 

he hath garnished the heavens.” Job xxvi, 13. 

* Spirit of Life, p. 53. 


20 The Mission of the Spint. 

“ The Spirit of God hath made me.” Job 
xxxiii, 4. 

The power of working miracles, which the in- 
spired writers explicitly declare is of God, is 
said to belong to him. 

Inspiration. — Paul, writing to the Hebrews, 
says, “ God spake unto the fathers by the proph- 
ets.” Heb. i, 1. And Peter says, “ Holy men of 
God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost.” 2 Pet. i, 21. Also, that it was “the 
Spirit of Christ which was in them” which 
“testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, 
and the glory that should follow.” 1 Pet. i, 11. 

Quickening . — “It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” 
John vi, 63. “ Quickened by the Spirit.” 1 Pet. 

iii, 18. “ Shall also quicken your mortal bodies 

by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Rom. viii, 1 1. 

4. The Holy Ghost is acknowledged in his 
personality and Godhead in the formula of 
Christian Baptism, and in the solemn and im- 
pressive form of benediction — “ Baptizing them 
in the name of the P'ather, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost.” Matt, xxviii, 19. “ The 

grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost.” 
2 Cor. xiii, 14. Now, if the Arian interpretation 


The Mission of the Spirit. 2 1 

be correct, then these formulas are in the name 
of one God, one creature, and one attribute or 
emanation. 

5. In many parts of Scripture the Holy Ghost 
is associated with the Father and the Son in 
acts , titles , authority, and worship , and is spoken 
of, or addressed, as of equal power, glory , and 
authority. For instance, in the Old Testament 
Scriptures we read as follows : “ And now the 
Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” Isa. 
xlviii, 16. “ I am with you, saith the Lord of 

Hosts : according to the word that I covenanted 
with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my 
Spirit remaineth among you : fear ye not. 
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of 
all nations shall come.” Hag. ii, 4, 7. Here is 
God the Father speaking of his Spirit and prom- 
ising the advent of his Son. “ The Lord of 
Hosts,” whom Isaiah declared spoke to him, the 
apostle says was the Holy Ghost : “ I heard 
the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I 
send?” etc. Isa. vi, 8-10. And, “Well spake 
the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our 
fathers.” Acts xxviii, 25. It may be well here 
to add that the Apostle John says that in this 
sublime vision and call of the prophet he saw the 


22 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

glory of Christ. “ These things said Esaias, when 
he saw his glory” — the glory of Christ — “and 
spake of him.” John xii, 41. It was in view of 
the presence of the three persons in the God- 
head in this vision, doubtless, that the six-winged 
seraphim cried, “ Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord 
of hosts!” Isa. vi, 3. To come to the New Tes- 
tament Scriptures : here we find at the baptism 
of Christ the presence of the Father and of his 
Holy Spirit. After his baptism, “ The heavens 
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of 
God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
him. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 
Matt, iii, 16, 17. Here is the Father speaking 
from heaven, acknowledging the one just bap- 
tized by John as his beloved Son ; and here is, 
also, the Spirit, distinct from both, and yet in 
harmony and union with both, anointing the Son 
of God and the Son of man for his work. 

In the great work of saving the sinner, and 
of adopting him into the divine family, the Spirit 
is said to be associated with the Father and the 
Son in a number of places. Take only the fol- 
lowing : “ Because ye are sons, God hath sent 
forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, cry- 


23 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

ing, Abba, Father.” Gal. iv, 6. “ After that the 

kindness and love of God our Saviour toward 
man appeared, . . . according to his mercy he 
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost ; which he shed 
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
Saviour.” Titus iii, 4-6. These proofs might 
be greatly multiplied. They are, in fact, so 
abundant that to quote all legitimately bearing 
upon these several points would occupy a large 
part of the present volume. Here are enough 
to convince any honest mind of the distinct 
personality and essential Godhead of the Holy 
Ghost. 

Let us, therefore, bow before the throne, and 
devoutly say, “ Glory be to the Father, and to 
the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ! As it was in 
the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world 
without end ! Amen.” 


24 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


CHAPTER II. 


THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 

IGHT hundred years before the advent of 



— ' Christ, the Prophet Joel heralded the 
coming of the Comforter in the following 
language : “ And it shall come to pass after- 
ward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall 
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, 
your young men shall see visions : and also 
upon the servants and upon the handmaids in 
those days will I pour out my Spirit.” Joel ii, 
28, 29. All down those centuries this promise 
was uttered, until it had its first grand and sig- 
nal fulfillment upon the day of Pentecost. So 
clearly and fully indeed was it fulfilled that the 
Apostle Peter unhesitatingly declared, u This is 
that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel.” 
Acts ii, 1 6. John the Baptist, recognizing the 
great mission and work of the Divine Redeemer, 
proclaimed of him, “ He shall baptize you with 
the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” Matt, iii, 11. 


25 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

At length he came, “The Desire of all Nations,” 
and for the space of three years his wonderful 
ministry was exercised among men. Not, how- 
ever, until toward its close did he announce the 
coming of the mighty Comforter. It was then, 
when the disciples were sad and sorrowing at 
the announcement of his departure from them, 
when they felt that they were going to be or- 
phaned, and the future looked dark and dreary 
to them, that he promised, upon the event of 
his departure, to send to them the Comforter, 
the richest gift of heaven. “ If I depart, I will 
send him unto you.” John xvi, 7. The prom- 
ises now began to multiply, and the sweet and 
gracious assurances of an ever-abiding Com- 
forter were unstintedly given to them. “ I will 
pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
Comforter, that he may abide with you forever ; 
even the Spirit of truth ; whom the world can- 
not receive, because it seeth him not, neither 
knoweth him : but ye know him ; for he dwell- 
eth with you, and shall be in you.” John xiv, 
1 6, 1 7. “ But the Comforter, which is the Holy 

Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.” 
John xiv, 26. “ But when the Comforter is 

come, whom I will send unto you from the Fa- 


2 6 The Mission of the Spirit. 

ther, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth 
from the Father, he shall testify of me.” John 
xv, 2 6. “ And when he [the Comforter] is come, 
he will reprove the world,” etc. John xvi, 8— 1 1. 
“ Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, 
he will guide you into all truth,” etc. John xvi, 
13-14. After his resurrection the Son of God 
repeated his promise, and proclaimed the near 
advent of the Comforter. “ But ye shall receive 
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Acts 
i, 8. Again, “ Behold, I send the promise of 
my Father upon you : but tarry ye in the city 
of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power 
from on high.” Luke xxiv, 49. “Ye shall 
be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many 
days hence.” Acts i, 5. It was, doubtless, 
for the fulfillment of this promise that they 
tarried in the upper room at Jerusalem, and 
held their ten days’ prayer-meeting. Let us 
here note, 

1. These promises are clear and explicit. “ I 
will send him unto you.” “ The Father will 
send him in my name.” “ If ye then, being evil, 
know how to give good gifts unto your children ; 
how much more shall your heavenly Father 


2 7 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” 
Luke xi, 13. There was no room for doubt 
in the minds of the early disciples ; nor after 
Christ’s resurrection did they seem to have any 
doubt or misgiving as to the bestowment of 
this gift. What thoughts may have entered 
into their minds as they waited day after day 
and prayed for, and expected, the gift so freely 
promised, we know not. We can readily con- 
ceive how dark shadows of doubt might have 
flitted across their minds as the promise was 
delayed. How they might have said to one 
another, “ Have we misunderstood the prom- 
ise ? ” “ Are we asking aright for this gift ? ” 

“Why, then, is it delayed?” But if these 
thoughts passed through their minds they were 
quickly dispelled, and faith triumphed. If such 
questionings had risen in their minds the an- 
swer would doubtless have been ready and 
prompt. “ We cannot misunderstand that 
promise. He certainly said that if he should 
go away he would send us the Comforter ; and 
he has gone away. We saw him in his great 
ascent ; we beheld him go up into heaven. He 
is certainly there. And then, too, we are ask- 
ing for this gift in his name, as he told us to 


28 The Mission of the Spirit. 

ask. We will pray on. The promise must be 
fulfilled.” 

It may be also that they tried to imagine to 
themselves how the Comforter would come. 
Perhaps some of them who knew of the scenes 
which had occurred at the baptism of their 
Lord thought he would come in a bodily shape, 
like a dove brooding over them, and thus visibly 
abide among them. Others, mayhap, rose in 
the fullness of their faith to the conception that 
this was to be an inward gift, unaccompanied 
by external signs ; a gift unseen by mortal eye, 
but to be consciously felt in the very depths of 
their spiritual being. But, whatever were their 
thoughts, they still prayed on in anxious, yet 
undoubting expectation of the coming of the 
promised Comforter. 

O what a model is this for the Church in all 
the ages ! We, too, have the promise, not ut- 
tered from memory, but right before our eyes 
in the blessed book. We can put our finger 
upon it and look up. There is no darkness or 
obscurity about it. It is clear as the light of 
heaven. It is sustained by the immutability 
and omnipotence of the Son of God. There is 
really no room for doubt or fear as to its truth 


29 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

or as to its actual fulfillment. Then, too, we 
have an advantage which they did not possess. 
The promise to us is a tried promise. But they 
had no one to say to them, “ I know what this 
gift is ; I have received it ; pray on, you will 
certainly receive it.” But we have the accumu- 
lated testimony of centuries, and of countless 
thousands of believers who have received this 
gift and felt the power of the Holy Ghost in 
every avenue of their being. The saints of 
eighteen centuries bear witness to this truth. 

2. This promise is universal. This was not 
merely a gift for the apostles and their contem- 
poraries, but for every clime and every age. 
The prophecy of Joel had clearly settled this 
point : “ I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
flesh .” And the Apostle Peter, under the 
plenary inspiration of the Comforter, after 
quoting this promise, made of it the most un- 
limited application. “ The promise is to you,” 
— all that were there gathered together — “Jews, 
devout men, from every nation under heaven ;” 
and, more than this, “ it is to your children ” — 
your descendants in all the future ages ; and, 
more than this, “it is to all who are afar off” — 
to the Gentile world, so spoken of by the apos- 


30 The Mission of the Spirit. 

tie in his letter to the Ephesians, (ii, 17;) 
and more than this, it is “ even to as many 
as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts ii, 39. 
No language could more clearly point out the 
universality of the promise than this. It just 
as certainly proclaims the promise to every 
person, in every age, and clime, as if an angel 
from heaven had personally addressed him, and 
said, “ The promise of the Holy Ghost is to 
you or as if his name were written in pencil- 
ings of light on the tablet of the sky, and under 
it the assurance, “ The promise of the Holy 
Ghost is to you.” O then, child of God, grasp 
the promise ! It is yours in all its freeness, 
richness, and fullness ; and it is yours now. It 
is yours every day, hour, and moment of your 
history, and sooner shall the blue arch above 
you shrivel into atoms, and the mighty earth 
upon which you stand melt away, than this 
promise shall fail. 

3. The Comforter is promised as an abiding 
gift. How often I have thought of the time 
when the promise of the Comforter first fell upon 
the saddened hearts of the disciples. They might 
have asked, “ Lord, how long will he abide with 
us ? Thou hast been with us only a little while. 


3i 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

and now thou art going away. How long will 
the other Comforter of whom thou hast spoken 
abide with us ? ” And O, how must their hearts 
have been cheered by the announcement, “He 
shall abide with you forever .” Yes; forever! 
There was to be no intermission of his presence, 
of his gifts, of his grace or power, in the hearts 
of true believers. No matter where they might 
be, or what might be their circumstances or con- 
ditions, believing, this gift would be theirs, and, 
according to the promise, so has it been, and so 
will it be until the end of time. This was glo- 
riously realized in the first three centuries of the 
history of the Church, and it has been realized 
in every century since. It is his presence and 
power which have kept the Church alive amid the 
persecutions of Pagan and of Papal Rome. His 
presence abode with the martyred saints while 
endungeoned, or exiled, or driven into the dens 
and caves of the mountains, or hunted like beasts 
of prey, or fighting with beasts at Ephesus and 
Rome, or gored by wild bulls, or torn to pieces 
by hungry lions and tigers, or burned at the 
stake, or decapitated on the block ; every-where, 
at all times, all along the ages, the Holy Ghost 
has abode in the Church. He has never left 


32 The Missioji of the Spirit. 

this redeemed world, and he never will until the 
“ last trump shall sound.” It is his presence 
which has kept alive and brightly burning the 
flames of divine truth and love in the hearts of 
the Waldenses amid the everlasting snows and 
ice of the Alps. This inspired and empowered 
Wiclif, Huss and Jerome, Luther, Melanchthon, 
Zwingle, Farel, La Fevre, Calvin, Knox, and their 
followers ; and this, during the last century and 
a quarter, guided the Wesleys, Whitefield, their 
co-laborers and successors, so that they were 
able to shake the whole civilized world, and to 
be the instruments in commencing a revival, 
the consummaion of which will be seen only 
amid the bursting glories of the millennium. 

4. The first grand fulfillment of the promise. 
It was on the tenth day after they had seen their 
Lord and Master “go into heaven” — “when 
the day of Pentecost had fully come ” — that 
they were again found assembled together in 
the upper room. It was early in the morning, 
how early we do not know. “ But it must have 
been very early : for after they had prayed and 
received the baptism, and all Jerusalem was 
filled with the noise of what had occurred, Peter 
reminded the multitude that it was only the 


33 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

‘ third hour of the day, or nine o’clock in the 
morning.” * “ They were all now with one ac- 

cord in one place.” Although the promise had 
been long delayed, still their faith did not waver ; 
their courage was undaunted. It is not improb- 
able that they had been looking forward to the day 
of Pentecost as the time when this gift of power 
was to be bestowed upon them. They may 
have said one to another, “ Was not Pentecost 
the time when the Lord descended upon Mount 
Sinai, amid ‘ thunderings and lightnings, the 
voice of a trumpet and the sound of words,’ and 
formally inaugurated the dispensation of the 
law ? And may not this anniversary of that 
grand event be the chosen and ordained period 
when the Holy Ghost will come down upon 
Mount Zion, and inaugurate the new dispensa- 
tion ? ” However this may be, there they were, 
all of the disciples, one hundred and twenty in 
number, not one absent. There was no dissen- 
tient voice, no doubting Thomas, no trembling, 
affrighted Peter, no weeping Mary, Heart beat 
responsive to heart ; faith was linked to faith : 
prayer was mingled with prayer ; and all eyes 
were lifted up to the hills whence they expected 

* Tongue of Fire, p. 33. 

3 


34 The Mission of the Spirit. 

“ the Comforter ” would come, when “ suddenly 
there came a sound as of a rushing mighty 
wind.” It was not wind, but a sound like the 
rushing of the wind. It did not come in at the 
window, nor through the door, but it came right 
“ down from heaven.” The sound was not nat- 
ural ; it was preternatural. When God ap- 
peared of old to Elijah, there was not only a 
fire and an earthquake, but a tempest which 
rent the rocks asunder, and made the whole 
mountain tremble under its power. Now again 
the sound of the “ rushing mighty wind ” her- 
alds the approach of the Lord — the Holy Ghost. 
They understood the sign. Awed, subdued, 
overpowered, they fell upon their knees or upon 
their faces, as Elijah had done, and then the 
mighty baptism came — came thrilling and throb- 
bing through every part of their being — hal- 
lowing and inspiring them with his presence 
and grace, emboldening them for their great 
work, filling them with unutterable peace and 
joy, and causing their tongues to speak the 
praises of the Lord. 

And now, with eyes kindled with celestial 
fire, with faces all aglow with the inward rap- 
ture of their souls, and their whole being pul- 


35 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

sating with the new, divine life, they ventured 
to look up, and “John sees Peter’s head crowned 
with fire, Peter sees James crowned with fire, 
James sees Nathanael crowned with fire, Na- 
thanael sees Mary crowned with fire, and round 
and round the fire sits 4 on each of them.’ ” * 
Thus, while they were anointed with the 
Holy Ghost to be the priests of the new dispen- 
sation, they were also crowned with coronals of 
fire as the kings of the Lord our God. It was, 
indeed, the befitting inauguration of a kingdom, 
all of whose subjects were to be “ kings and 
priests.” It is well for us to pause a moment 
at this point and notice that, vast and important 
as was the work which was given them to do — 
although the world was perishing all around 
them — notwithstanding during those ten days, 
while they were waiting and praying, thousands 
of immortal beings went down into their graves, 
and were ushered into eternal realities — yet, 
they were not allowed to open their lips to 
proclaim the Gospel until they had been “ en- 
dued with power from on high.” It would, in 
fact, have been useless for them to attempt 
this work without this baptism. They would 
* Tongue of Fire, p. 34. 


3 6 The Mission of the Spirit. 

not only have lacked the grand, essential quali- 
fication for it, but their ministry would have 
proved a failure without it. The time was not 
lost while they tarried. Nor is that time lost 
by the minister or the Church which is spent 
in pleading for the Holy Ghost. O how often 
are both impatient to engage in labor for the 
salvation of souls, for the overthrow of Satan’s 
kingdom, and, commencing without proper 
qualifications, they are routed, discomfited, 
mortified and discouraged ! It will not do now, 
any more than in the olden time, for Israel to 
attack his enemies unless the ark of God is with 
him ; but if the ark is with him, and he is fitted 
to bear it, there will be “ the shout of a king in 
the camp.” O ye ministers of Jesus, go not 
forth to this work unless the baptism is upon 
you ! O ye followers of Christ, see well to it 
that ye are anointed with this power ! If the 
whole Church, in its ministry and membership, 
were thus, as the disciples were, waiting before 
God day and night for this baptism, how soon 
would it arise and shine ! how soon would it be 
lifted up to the platform of a blood-purchased 
holiness, and thence would radiate the world 
with its light, and shake it to its very center 


The Mission of the Spirit. 37 

with its power ! The immediate results of that 
early pentecostal morning baptism have aston- 
ished the world for nearly two thousand years, 
while the outgoing influences from it have trav- 
eled down all the centuries, and are felt now in 
every part of the wide world. I need not re- 
peat the immediate results of that baptism. 
They are well known to all. Timid disciples — 
one of whom, and he the chief, had denied his 
Lord, and the rest had fled in terror ; who 
after his crucifixion had abandoned all hope, 
who had even doubted his resurrection when 
proclaimed to them by the women — now came 
forth boldly and preached Jesus and the resur- 
rection, braving the Jewish Sanhedrim and the 
whole power of the Roman empire ; and their 
first day’s preaching harvested three thousand 
souls. 

It was not many days after this, when perse- 
cution began to rage against them, when the 
council, swayed by mingled emotions of rage 
and alarm, threatened them with imprisonment 
and death if they persisted in preaching Jesus, 
that another baptism of the Spirit came upon 
them. The prayer which they offered upon 
that occasion is remarkable, not for its length, 


38 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


nor its learnedness, but for its simplicity and its 
courageous faith. And when that prayer was 
ended, the very place where they assembled 
“ was shaken, and they were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost.” We are not to regard these as 
the only baptisms which they received. They 
were only grand specimens of the daily expe- 
rience of the Church. And what was the daily 
experience of the Church then may be the daily 
experience of the Church now. Are we pray- 
ing for it ? Are we believing and holding fast 
to the promise ? Are we, even now, looking 
up to the heavens and expecting his descent 
upon us ? Then he will come not placeing coro- 
nals of fire upon our brows, not preceded by the 
rushing mighty wind, not shaking the place 
where we are praying, mayhap, but just as 
really, just as fully, and just as gloriously 
anointing us with his graces and his power. 

“ Come, Holy Ghost, for thee we call ; 

Spirit of burning, come t ” 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


39 


CHAPTER III. 

THE GIFT OF THE COMFORTER THE EVIDENCE 
OF CHRIST’S ASCENSION AND MEDIATION. 

T N the very midst of his labors and toils the 
Son of God declared, “ My Father worketh 
hitherto, and I work.” John v, 17. But his 
work upon the earth was completed when he 
had offered himself a sacrifice for sin, and had 
risen from the dead, and had given to his 
Church her grand commission ; then, in the 
sight of them all, he was “ taken up into heav- 
en.” He had frequently declared unto them 
that he “ must go away ; that it was expedient 
for them that he should go away.” John xvi, 7. 
But he had also promised, If I go away I will 
send you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you forever. (John xiv, 16 ; xvi, 7.) He had 
also said unto them, when sorrow was filling 
their hearts, “ If I go not away, the Comforter 
will not come unto you ; .but if I depart, / will 
send him unto you!' John xvi, 7. The bestow- 
ment of this gift, then, was conditioned upon his 


40 The Mission of the Spirit. 

departure from earth to heaven. It was to be 
his great ascension and coronation gift. During 
the ages preceding his advent the Holy Ghost 
had been given in a measure. He had inspired 
the prophets ; he had moved them to write and 
speak ; he had testified within them the “ suffer- 
ings of Christ and the glory which was to fol- 
low ;” he had been imparted to the Baptist from 
his birth ; and yet all this was not that great 
gift to the Church and the world which was to 
be imparted after his ascension and glorification. 
“ The Holy Ghost was not yet [fully] given ; 
because that Jesus was. not glorified.” John 
vii, 39. But now Jesus had gone away. They 
had seen him, reversing the laws- of nature, 
ascending up toward heaven until a “ cloud had 
received him out of their sight.” He was no 
more with them in his bodily presence ; but 
they believed what he had told them : “ I ascend 
unto my Father, and your Father ; and to my 
God, and your God.” John xx, 17. How were 
they to know it ? What evidence could they 
receive which would demonstrate the fact that 
he was “ at the right hand of God exalted ? ” 
They no longer doubted his resurrection. The 
many “ infallible signs ” which he had given 


41 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

them of this had dissipated forever all their 
doubts and fears. Now how could they know 
that he was glorified ? Christ himself had 
given the sign : “ If I go away, I will send you 
another Comforter.” 

Let us illustrate this. Suppose you have a 
friend who is about to sail for India or China. 
Before his departure you converse with him, 
and he promises you, that if he shall arrive 
safely in the country to which he goes, he will 
write you a letter, and send you some of the 
peculiar productions of that country. The day 
arrives for his departure, and amid tears and 
farewells you watch the vessel until it disappears 
in the dim distance. You then return home, 
and wait in expectation of the promised letter 
and the promised gift. A few weeks pass away, 
and you begin to think the time is drawing 
near for the fulfillment of the promise, and you 
are on the anxious outlook for the mail carrier 
and the express-man ; when, lo, on some bright 
morning a letter is handed you, and you see at 
a glance that the handwriting is that of your 
friend. What is the very first thought that 
enters your mind as you see it addressed from 
the country whither your friend has gone ? 


42 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Why, you say, “ No doubt he has arrived 
safely ; he is certainly there.” And when, a few 
hours later, the express-man arrives with a pack- 
age containing the promised specimens, you are 
confirmed in your belief, and there is no further 
room for doubt. Now the disciples had seen 
their Lord and Master go into heaven. They 
stood gazing up into heaven as his chariot went 
up, until the angel voices startled them, and 
they turned to see them and listen to their 
words of hope and cheer. Then comes the 
period of waiting. They were not told how long 
they were to wait ; but the assurance was given 
them that they should not wait long. “Ye 
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many 
days hence!' We have seen how they waited, 
and how they prayed, and how the promised 
gift was bestowed. And after the first outburst 
of their exuberant joy, what was the deep con- 
viction, the undoubted assurance, which took 
possession of their hearts ? Must they not joy- 
fully and triumphantly have said to each other, 
“ O, He is ascended ! He is glorified ! He is 
seated at the right hand of God the Father !” 
And how boldly did Peter declare this in his 
wonderful Pentecost sermon ! “ Therefore being 


43 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

by the right hand of God exalted y and having re- 
ceived of the Father the promise of the Holy 
Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now 
see and hear.” Acts ii, 33-36. With equal bold- 
ness did he testify before the Jewish Sanhedrim. 
“ Him hath God exalted with his right hand 
to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repent- 
ance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And 
we are his witnesses of these things ; and so 
is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given 
to them that obey him.” Acts v, 31, 32. Here, 
then, is the grand demonstration to the Church 
and the world of Christ’s exaltation and media- 
tion. O, there is not a sinner whose dark 
mind is illuminated with the light, and whose 
unbelieving heart is convinced by the power of 
the Holy Ghost, but who has an indubitable 
evidence that Christ is “seated at the right 
hand of God.” And there is not a Christian 
who experiences the baptism of the Holy Ghost, 
but who knows as well that Jesus is glorified as 
if he had seen him with his own eyes sitting 
upon the eternal throne. So, when his peace 
and comfort and joy are imparted to the soul 
of the believer, he feels, he knows that he is ex- 
alted at God’s right hand. Each repetition of 


44 7 he Mission of the Spirit. 

the baptism increases the assurance, until 
“meridian evidence puts doubts to flight” 
forever. 

“ Enthroned, is Jesus now 
Upon his heavenly seat ; 

The kingly crown is on his brow ; 

The saints are at his feet.” 

“ Enthroned on high, Almighty Lord, 

The Holy Ghost send down ; 

Fulfill in us thy faithful word, 

And all thy mercies crown.” 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


45 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE FULL BESTOWMENT OF THE COMFORTER 
CONDITIONED UPON THE DEPARTURE OF 
CHRIST FROM THE WORLD. 

U TT is expedient for you,” said the Son of God, 
“ that I go away : for if I go not away, 
the Comforter will not come unto you ; hut if I 
depart , I will send him U7ito you!' John xvi, 7. 
No language could have made it clearer to the 
minds of the disciples that, if the Comforter, who 
was to abide with them forever, came, Christ must 
depart from them. Why was this ? Had not the 
Holy Ghost been given to men before this ? And 
if so, how was this new coming to differ from all 
his former manifestations ? There can be no 
doubt whatever that the Spirit had been given 
during each of the preceding dispensations ; and, 
also, even during Christ’s sojourn with his dis- 
ciples. Far back, in the very dawn of the patri- 
archal dispensation, God had said, “ My Spirit 
shall not always strive with man.” Gen. vi, 3. 
He must, then, have been given at that very 
early period in order that he might strive with 


46 The Mission of the Spirit . 

man. Again, St. Peter says, “ Holy men of God 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 
2 Pet. i, 21. Of John the Baptist it was said, 
“ He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even 
from his mother’s womb.” Luke i, 15. It was 
said of Elizabeth that she “was filled with the 
Holy Ghost.” Luke i, 41, 67. The same is said 
of Zacharias. The aged Simeon, the Evangelist 
says, had “ the Holy Ghost upon him.” And it 
was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost that “ he 
should not see death, before he had seen the 
Lord’s Christ.” Luke ii, 25, 26. It was by the 
Spirit, also, that he came into the temple. 
(Luke ii, 27.) Mary herself received the Holy 
Ghost, that she might become the mother of our 
Lord. (Luke i, 35.) Our Saviour, speaking to his 
disciples, says of the Spirit, “ whom the world 
cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither 
knoweth him : but ye know him ; for he dwelleth 
with you, and shall be in you.” John xiv, 17. 

And yet, notwithstanding these frequent 
references, it is expressly declared by the Evan- 
gelist, “The Holy Ghost was not yet given ; be- 
cause that Jesus was not yet glorified.” John vii, 
39. How, then, are these statements to be rec- 
onciled ? The only solution of this difficulty 


47 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

is that, until the ascension and glorification of 
Christ, the Spirit was only partially and tern- 
porarily given ; while since his exaltation to the 
right hand of God he has been fully and con- 
stantly poured forth. There were only certain 
offices, which, previous to Christs exaltation, 
the Spirit had exercised. He had striven with 
the antediluvians. He had inspired the proph- 
ets, and Mary, Elizabeth, Zachariah, Simeon, 
Anna, and John the Baptist. In a measure, he 
had dwelt with the disciples. But all will read- 
ily perceive how limited and transient were his 
gifts. His most glorious manifestation under 
the Old Testament dispensation was as “the 
spirit of prophecy.” In this high and glorious 
office he had opened the eyes of the prophets, 
so that they could look down the vistas of the 
ages, and see the rise and fall of empires, king- 
doms, and states, and, especially, the coming 
and glory of the kingdom of the Messiah. In- 
spired by his presence and power, their souls 
had been kindled into rapture, and made to 
glow with ecstasies divine. They had been 
transported beyond themselves, and, rapt in 
the visions of God, they had uttered truths 
which they could never have reasoned out or 


48 The Mission of the Spirit. 

known ; had used words which they could not 
have used ; and had poured forth the most mag- 
nificent poetic effusions which have held the 
ages enraptured and entranced. And yet this 
gift was not always upon them, it was not abid- 
ing. And when the Divine Afflatus departed 
they were weak, and feeble, and ignorant as 
other men. But for the time being, while the 
Spirit was upon them, “ They were,” says an 
eloquent writer,* “ a momentary incarnation — a 
meteor, kindled at the eye, and blown on the 
breath, of the Eternal.” To the ancient prophet, 
then, the Holy Ghost was an occasional visitant, 
mighty in his operations, and glorious in his 
manifestations. Suddenly He came upon him, 
and as suddenly departed. Sometimes return- 
ing at different periods, and in other cases, 
probably, only realized once in the whole life- 
time of the man of God. Various, also, were 
the means he employed in revealing himself to 
the prophets, sometimes speaking to them in 
dreams and visions of the night, when his con- 
scious presence would make their hair to stand 
up and their flesh to crawl. Then again, after 
periods of fasting and prayer, on the banks of 


* Gilfillan. 


49 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

the Ulai, the Chebar, or the Euphrates. Thus, 
as the apostle says, “ at sundry times and in 
divers manners God spake unto the fathers by 
the prophets.” Heb. i, I. But there is no evi- 
dence whatever that he was given to the Church, 
in these former dispensations, as he was given 
at the day of Pentecost, or as he is now given 
to believers. The prophets themselves were 
made conscious that a brighter and more glo- 
rious dispensation was to follow their own. 
Hence, the frequency with which they speak of 
“ that day!' They saw the coming on of that 
day ; they anxiously desired to see the day itself ; 
but they only saw it in the distant future. The 
Prophet Joel speaks of this wonderful and uni- 
versal outpouring of the Spirit as occurring 
“in the last days.” And when the Apostle 
Peter stood up on the day in which the Church 
received the mighty baptism, he said, “ This is 
that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel.” 
It was, indeed, the grand fulfillment of the an- 
cient prophecies, the blessed realization of the 
Saviour’s promise. Now Jesus had departed. 
Now he was glorified at the right hand of God. 
Now the Comforter had come, as it had been 

foretold and fore-promised. And now, too, he 
4 


50 The Mission of the Spirit. 

had come to stay — to stay “ until the redemption 
of the purchased possession,” and until the final 
“ restitution of all things.”, But he had come 
to give, not always the power of working mira- 
cles, or of speaking with tongues, but to be the 
great enlightener, regenerator, and sanctifier of 
the race. Now the Spirit is to be so in the 
heart of the believer, that out of it should 
“flow rivers of living water.” John vii, 38. 
Calvin’s exposition of this promise is very fine. 
He says, “ Christ here teaches the abundant 
fullness to be found in him, which will refresh us 
to satiety. It is, indeed, a rather strong meta- 
phor when rivers of living water are said to flow 
out of the hearts of believers. Nevertheless, 
the sense is by no means doubtful, namely, that 
no spiritual blessing shall ever be wanting to 
them that believe. Rivers , in the plural num- 
ber, I understand to express the multiplied 
graces of the Spirit which are necessary to the 
spiritual life of the soul. In short, here is 
promised to us the perpetuity of the gifts of the 
Spirit, as well as their abundance. But we are 
also admonished by this how small may be the 
measure of our faith when the Spirit barely 
distills upon us, drop by drop, that which might: 


5i 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

flow like a river, if we would give the right 
place to Christ ; that is, should our faith render 
us capable of receiving him.” 

But the question .now arises, Why was it 
necessary that Christ should depart in order to 
the full bestowment of the Spirit ? To this I 
answer, first, It was essential in order that the 
apostles and Christians in all ages might learn 
to walk by faith. Paul expressly declares, 
“ We walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor. v, 7. 
And they thus walked because God had given 
unto them “ the earnest of the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 
v, 5. In view of this he sums up the whole ar- 
gument by saying, “ Wherefore, henceforth 
know we no man after the flesh : yea, though 
we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now 
henceforth know we him no more.” 2 Cor. 
v, 1 6. 

Christ had been with them for three years. 
He had called them his “brethren,” his “friends.” 
They had heard his voice, had seen him with 
their own eyes ; they had looked upon him, 
and their hands had handled “the Word of life.” 
1 John i, 1. In all their doubts and difficulties 
they had gone directly to him, and they were 
not satisfied unless they were in his immediate 


52 The Mission of the Spirit. 

presence. And when he had spoken to them 
of going away sorrow had filled their hearts. 
We all know that upon the Mount of Trans- 
figuration Peter had wanted to build three tab- 
ernacles, so that their Master might abide with 
them there. Thus they were walking almost 
wholly by sight , gazing with wondering eyes 
upon the Saviour’s miracles, or listening with 
admiration and awe to his unearthly teachings, 
although failing often to understand their great 
import. His visible and tangible presence 
seemed to be more and more necessary to 
them the longer he remained with them. 
They had come, in some instances at least, to 
regard that his actual presence was essential to 
the performance of his mighty works. It was 
so with both Mary and Martha. Much as they 
loved him, cordially as they embraced him as 
the promised Messiah, yet they evidently had this 
idea when each of them said, “ Lord, if thou hadst 
been here my brother had not died.” John xi, 
21, 32. Just as if his visible presence was es- 
sential to the restoration of their brother. But 
it was the design of Christ that the new dispen- 
sation should not be sensuous but spiritual — not 
one which should appeal to the eye, but one 


53 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

which should engage the confidence and the 
affections of the heart. Hence, after his resur- 
rection, Christ said to the once doubting, but 
now overwhelmingly convinced, Thomas, “ Be- 
cause thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : 
blessed are they that have not seen, and yet 
have believed.” John xx, 29. So the Apostle 
Peter says, “ Whom having not seen y ye love ; in 
whom, though now ye see him not, yet believ- 
ing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory.” 1 Peter i, 8. But then, if they, in a 
still higher and sublimer sense than Moses did, 
were to “ endure as seeing Him who is invisi- 
ble,” they must be sustained by a faith which is 
inspired by the Holy Spirit. That they might 
“ walk by faith and not by sight,” Jesus was 
taken away from them, and that this faith might 
be inspired and maintained the Spirit was given 
to them. 

2. His departure was essential not only to a 
life of faith, but also that our love to him might 
be spiritual a 7 id divine y and not fleshly and hu- 
man. There was a tradition among the Jewish 
people that Christ, when he came, would never 
die. This is evident from their language to 
him when he had spoken to them of his being 


54 The Mission of the Spirit . 

“lifted up,” which they evidently understood, 
as he intended they should understand him, 
namely, as “ signifying by what death he should 
die.” “ We have heard,” say they, “ out of the 
law that Christ abideth forever : and how say- 
est thou, The Son of man must be lifted up ? ” 
John xii, 31-34. So when he spoke to his 
disciples of his sufferings and death, Peter said, 
“ Be it far from thee, Lord : this shall not be unto 
thee.” Matt, xvi, 22. Such was their love for 
his person, that any mention of his departure 
from them filled them with amazement and 
grief. Thus it is evident that their love for 
him, while, doubtless, it was ardent and sincere, 
yet was not as pure and spiritual as it was after 
they received the Spirit. St. Augustine says, 
“ It seems to me that the disciples had been 
occupied with the human form of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and, being men, were controlled, 
as it were, by human affection to man. But he 
desired them rather to have a divine affection, 
and to be made spiritual instead of carnal, 
which a man does not become except by the 
gift of the Holy Spirit. This, therefore, he 
says, ‘ I send to you a gift by which you may 
be made spiritual, namely, the gift of the Holy 


55 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

Spirit. You cannot become spiritual unless 
you cease to be carnal. Now you will cease to 
be carnal if the bodily form is withdrawn from 
your eyes, that the image of God may be placed 
in your hearts.’ For by this human form the 
heart even of Peter was detained when he 
feared that he whom he loved much would die ; 
for he loved the Lord Jesus Christ as a man 
loves man, as the carnal loves the carnal, not as 
the spiritual loves true majesty.” 

Let me suggest just here, that it has often 
seemed to me to be a relic of this human love 
when the expressions, “sweet Jesus,” “dear 
Jesus,” and the like are made use of. Without 
for a moment doubting the piety or the sincer- 
ity of many of those who habitually make use 
of such expressions in addressing Christ or 
speaking of him, at the same time I would ex- 
press a sincere doubt as to the propriety and the 
profit of making use of them. The apostles of 
our Lord never speak thus of him, nor is there 
any evidence that the early Church employed this 
language. The same, and even greater, objec- 
tions lie against the use of all images of Christ, 
or all attempts to form images of him in “ the 
chambers of imagery,” that we may humanly 


56 The Mission of the Spirit. 

love and embrace him. This is one of the great 
errors of the Romish Church, and perhaps the 
very secret of her sensuous worship. On this 
point Archdeacon Hare says,* “But true it is 
that, while it is the glory of the Church of Rome 
to have preserved the confession of Christ, the 
Son of the living God, through so many ages, 
notwithstanding the open assaults and insidious 
snares of numberless forms of heresy, that 
Church has ever been especially apt to lose 
sight of the spiritual and divine truth in the 
outward human form. She has been unable to 
recognize how indeed it was expedient for 
Christ to go away. She has never been con- 
tent unless she could get something present — a 
vicar, images, outward works, actual sacrifices, 
with priests to offer them up, real flesh and real 
blood. She chose rather to defy the evidence 
of the senses than not to have an object of 
sense.” And Calvin in his Commentary on the 
text, “ It is expedient for you that I go away,” 
etc., says, “Because we are carnal, nothing is 
more difficult than to tear from our minds this 
preposterous affection, by which we draw Christ 
to us from heaven.” It is the sturdy, brawny 

° Mission of the Comforter, p. 234. 


57 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

faith of the soul which is more enlightened and 
sanctified, which eliminates from it the earthly, 
the groveling, and the human, and soars aloft 
into the sublimer altitudes- of love divine. It 
is true that his human soul and his human 
body ally him and endear him to our humanity, 
but we are to know him, and to love him after 
the flesh, no more. 

3. His departure was necessary in order that 
his disciples and his Church might be “ led into 
all truth!' It was his own promise that “ When 
He, the Spirit of truth, shall come, he shall guide 
you into all truth ” — irdoav t7\v dhrjdeiav , all the 
truth. “ He shall not speak of himself ; but what- 
soever he shall hear, that shall he speak.” John 
xvi, 13. “ He shall testify of me!' John xv, 26. 

When Christ was with them he told them that 
he had yet many things to say to them, but that 
they “ could not bear them then.” John xvi, 12. 
And we all know that while Christ was with them 
they were very slow of heart to understand what 
he said to them. There seemed to be a mist, a 
vail upon their minds. All that he said to them 
about his death, his resurrection and ascension, 
they did not seem to comprehend. But the 
promise was, that the Spirit should guide them 


58 The Mission of the Spirit. 

into all the truth. I understand by this that 
they should be guided by him, not into all scien- 
tific, or purely speculative truth, but the truth 
as it is in Jesus — “ the truth as it relates to man’s 
present and eternal well-being.” Hence we see 
that, as soon as the Spirit was given to them, 
they seem to have had a new revelation of 
Christ. He was no longer to them merely 
“the man Christ Jesus,” “Jesus of Nazareth,” 
or a man of poverty, sorrow, and grief ; but 
“ exalted to the right hand of God,” “ a Prince 
and a Saviour,” “ The Son of God,” “ God over 
all, blessed forever ! ” “ He was no longer a mere 
teacher and example, but transfigured into their 
God and Saviour and Redeemer.” * They had, 
as we have seen, the clearest evidence of his 
resurrection ; they now had the most undoubt- 
ing faith in his Godhead. “ The history of the 
disciples, of the light they received, and of what 
they did after the ascension and the outpouring 
of the Holy Ghost, explains and confirms our 
Lord’s words. None but he who had been 
crucified, had risen, and been glorified — the Son 
of God, who sat at the right hand of the Father — 
could be preached by the apostles as the 

* Hare, p. 55. 


59 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Saviour of the whole world, and as the Lord of 
a new eternal and spiritual kingdom of heaven. 
None but the Son of God, who had overcome 
death, and returned in triumph to the Father, 
could the Paraclete proclaim to the world as the 
fulfiller of all righteousness, as the conqueror 
of the prince of this world, and as him unbelief 
in whom is sin.” * So Augustine says : “ It was 
necessary that the servant form should be re- 
moved from their eyes, because they thought 
this alone, which they saw, to be Christ. Hence 
his word : 4 If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, 
because I go unto, the Father ; for my Father is 
greater than I that is, It is necessary for me to 
go to the Father, because, while ye thus behold 
me ye judge, from what ye see, that I am less 
than the Father, and, occupied with my created 
and assumed nature, ye do not perceive the 
equality which I have with the Father. Hence 
also the language, * Touch me not; for I am 
not yet ascended to my Father.’ For touch 
makes an end, as it were, to conception. And 
he was unwilling that what was seen should be 
thought the whole, that the heart directed to 
him should pause with the visible. By ascend- 


* Locke. 


6o 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

ing to the Father he was to appear as equal to 
the Father.” 

Peter, and the other disciples, had caught 
occasional glimpses of this great truth. They 
had stood in awe and amazement at his wonder- 
ful power, when he had commanded the winds 
and the sea, and they had obeyed him. But 
even then they had asked, “ What manner of 
man is this ?” Matt, viii, 27. When the miracu- 
lous draught of fishes had been secured, Peter 
had fallen down at the feet of his Master, over- 
whelmed by a sense of his wisdom and his 
power, and had said, “ Depart from me ; for I 
am a sinful man, O Lord.” Luke v, 8. And 
then, too, when Jesus asked his disciples, 
“ Whom say ye that I am ? ” Peter, answering 
for himself and the other disciples, said, “ Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matt, 
xvi, 1 6. This answer was given, however, under 
the influence of a direct revelation from God : 
“Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 
my Father which is in heaven.” Matt, xvi, 17. 
But not always was the mind of Peter so clear 
in its conceptions of the character of his Master. 
If he had continued to believe this, would he 


The Mission of the Spirit. 6 1 

have denied his Lord “with oaths and curses ? ” 
No, indeed. But when he saw him standing a 
prisoner at the bar, and the whole power of the 
Jewish hierarchy threatening his death, his faith 
gave way under the pressure, and he fell fear- 
fully into sin. Tru£, his great brawny, noble 
heart was broken, and he wept bitterly when 
his Lord looked upon him ; but then, again, his 
death seems to have extinguished all hope 
within his breast. There is great significance 
in his saying to the other disciples, “ I go a' 
fishing,” and in their answer, “ We also go with 
thee.” John xxi, 3. They knew not how they 
were to be employed, and hence they returned 
to their former means of obtaining a livelihood. 

But after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon 
them, they never doubted the divine character 
of their Lord. With the utmost boldness they 
preached “Jesus and the resurrection” in the 
very face of imprisonment, torture, and death. 
Besides this, the whole character of the suffer- 
ings and death, the resurrection and ascension, 
as well as the way of salvation by faith in his 
blood, seems to have burst at once upon their 
minds. The complete fulfillment of ancient 
prophecies and promises, the grand antetypal 


62 The Mission of the Spirit. 

and substantial completement of the sacrifices 
of the law in Christ, all were brought out clearly 
to their minds. The whole Levitical priesthood 
and economy, and all the writings of the old 
prophets, were luminous, and all aglow, under 
the influence of the mighty baptism of the Spirit 
which was upon them. Thus the entire rounds 
of Christian doctrine, recorded in the Gospels 
and the Epistles, and embraced by all true be- 
lievers for nearly two thousand years, loomed 
•up “ with all its rays complete ” before their 
astonished minds. 

5. His departure was essential to the universal 
spread of the Gospel. It was hardly possible for 
the Gospel to travel out into the regions beyond 
Judea while our Lord remained upon the earth. 
His presence with his disciples localized all their 
ideas of his operations and of his kingdom, and 
confined their labors to the narrow limits of the 
Holy Land. His command to the seventy had, 
indeed, positively restricted their labors to the 
Jews alone. But his post-resurrection command 
was extended to “ all the world,” and “ to every 
creature.” Mark xvi, 1 5. This command was based 
upon, and derived all its authority and emphasis 
from, the all-power which was gi ven him in heaven 


63 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

and earth. (Matt, xxviii, 1 8.) And in harmony 
with the command was the promise, “ Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” 
Matt, xxviii, 20. And the further one, “Ye shall 
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 
upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me both 
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and 
unto the uttermost part of the earth Acts i, 8. 

“Not till he was taken away from them did 
they learn to feel that He was with them not 
merely in Judea, but in every part of the world. . 
So long as he was living upon earth he might 
give light to the country round, like a beacon 
upon a hill. But it was only from his sun-like 
throne in the heavens that he could pour light 
over every quarter of the globe. It was only 
from thence that his voice could go forth 
throughout all the earth, and his words unto the 
end of the world. It was only when he was 
lifted up that he could draw all men to his feet. 
Then alone could the foundations of his Church 
be laid so deep and wide that all nations could 
be gathered into it.”* 

To the same effect Bishop Andrews says, 
“ As the disciples were to be sent abroad into 


* Hare, p. 46. 


64 The Mission of the Spirit. 

all coasts, to be scattered all over the earth to 
preach the Gospel, and not to stay together still 
in one place, Christ’s corporal presence would 
have stood them in small stead. He could have 
been resident but in one place, to have com- 
forted some one of them, St. James at Jerusa- 
lem : as for John at Ephesus, or Thomas in 
India, or Peter at Babylon — as good for them in 
heaven as in earth ; all one. The Spirit which 
was to succeed was much more fit for men dis- 
persed. He could be, and was present with 
them all, and with every one by himself, as 
filling the compass of the whole world.” * There 
is peculiar significance here in the promise, 
“ Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end 
of the world.” In his bodily presence this 
could not have been verified ; he could not have 
been with each of them always and every-where ; 
but by his Spirit the promise has been faithfully 
and gloriously fulfilled to the joy and comfort 
of all the laborers in his vineyard. Wherever 
his servants have gone preaching the Gospel, 
whether among “ Barbarians, Scythians, bond or 
free ; ” amid hyperborean regions of eternal ice 
and snow, or amid the burning heats of tropical 

0 Sermons on sending the Holy Ghost. 


65 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

regions, every- where his presence has been 
realized through the agency of the Eternal 
Spirit. His departure, and the consequent com- 
ing of the Comforter, were essential, also, to 
break down the middle wall of partition between 
the Jews and Gentiles. Thus the mighty bar- 
riers of the ages were removed. So strong had 
been the prejudices of the disciples, that it re- 
quired a miraculous interposition, and a special 
command of the Spirit to Peter, to induce him 
to go to the house of Cornelius. Nor was it 
until he had preached unto the family and 
friends of the Centurion, and the Spirit had 
fallen upon them as upon the disciples at the 
beginning, that the truth burst fully upon his 
mind that redemption was provided for them. 
So the Church at Jerusalem, still encased in the 
bigoted prejudices of Judaism, contended with 
Peter because he had gone to men uncircum- 
cised, and had eaten with them. (Acts xi, 3.) 
But when he had “ rehearsed the matter from 
the beginning,” and had told them how “ the 
Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the be- 
ginning, . . . they held their peace, and glorified 
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles 
granted repentance unto life.” Acts xi, 4, 15, 18. 


66 The Mission of the Spirit. 

It was thus, and by the persecution which scat- 
tered the members of the Jerusalem Church, that 
the sacred fire, which had been pent up in the 
Holy City and in Judea, now overleaped these 
narrow boundaries, and spread in every direc- 
tion, until the world’s cold heart began to melt 
under its power, and its darkness fled before 
the brilliancy of its radiance. Hence we see 
that the departure of Christ was essential to the 
full bestowment of his Spirit, and the universal 
extension of his kingdom. 


The Mission of the Spirit . 


67 


CHAPTER V. 

THE GIFT OF THE COMFORTER WHAT IT 

COMPRISES. 

J ESUS is glorified. The Holy Ghost is giv- 
en. Let us, then, fix our gaze upon the 
character and importance of the gift which we 
have received. What, then, does this gift com- 
prise ? As we look at the gift, and endeavor to 
appreciate its richness, its freeness and full- 
ness — its infinite variety of blessings — we are, 
we must be, overwhelmed with its greatness. 
And yet how slow have we been to appreciate 
its value and importance ! How often has it 
been undesired and unsought ; yea, how often 
has it been despised, resisted, and refused ? O, 
wonder of wonders, that such a gift should be 
offered to us on the simple condition of asking 
for it, and yet that we are so slow to ask, and 
so unwilling to receive it ! But now let us en- 
deavor to understand the gift so freely promised, 
so freely bestowed. The blessed Comforter, the 
ascension gift of Jesus, comes to us himself, 


68 The Mission of the Spirit. 

bringing the richest gifts. The early Church 
was flooded with these gifts — both in their ex- 
traordinary and ordinary forms. The apostle 
enumerates them as follows: “Now there are 
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . But 
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every 
man to profit withal. For to one is given by 
the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to another the 
word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to 
another faith by the same Spirit ; to anoth- 
er the gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; to 
another the working of miracles ; to another 
prophecy ; to another discerning of spirits ; to 
another divers kinds of tongues ; to anoth- 
er the interpretation of tongues : but all these 
worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, 
dividing to every man severally as he will.” 
i Cor. xii, 4, 7—1 1. So also in verses 28-30: 
“And God hath set some in the church, first 
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teach- 
ers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, 
helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” 
But he adds, “ Are all apostles ? are all prophets ? 
are all teachers ? are all workers of miracles ? 
have all the gifts of healing ? do all speak with 
tongues?” In Rom. xii, 6-8, we have anoth- 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


69 


other division of these gifts : “ Having then gifts 
differing according to the grace that is given to 
us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy accord- 
ing to the proportion of faith ; or ministry, let 
us wait on our ministering ; or he that teach- 
eth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on ex- 
hortation.” So in Eph. iv, n, 12, “And he 
gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and 
some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teach- 
ers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the 
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
body of Christ.” 

The following classification of these gifts has 
been made, and as it serves so clearly to im- 
press them upon the mind, I quote it entire : 

I. 


1 Cor. xii, 8. 


Class I — « /lev. 

1. Xoyog ooQiac, 
Word of wisdom. 

2. Aoyof yvuoe o>c, 
Word of knowl- 
edge. 


Class II — tyepu de. 


Class III — erepu 6 1 


1. irioTig, Faith. 

2. x n pto/iara iapdruv 
Gifts of healing. 

3. kvepyi/para 6 cj vd- 
peuv, Working of 
miracles. 

4. TtpobriTtia, Proph- 
ecy. 

5. diaicpioeic irvevpd- 
T6>i>, Discerning 
of spirits!. 


1. yeve yloocnov, 
Divers kinds of 
tongues. 

2. f ppijvda yhooacjv, 
Interpretation of 
tongues . 


70 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

II. 

i Cor. xii, 28. 

1 . cvkogtoIol, Apostles. 

2. 7r potyrjTcu, Prophets. (See 4 in Class II.) 

3. diddaicaTioc, Teachers . (Including 1 and 2 in Class I, and 

perhaps) 

4. dwa/ieig, Miracles. (See 3 in Class II.) 

1. ^ap/c/zara iajiuTov, Gif ts of healing. (See 2 of Class II.) 

2 . dvTLlijipEtg, Helps. 

3. KvftepvTjGtLC, Governments. 

4. yevr] yTioaouv, Diversities of tongues. (See 1 of Class 3.)* 

But nearly all, if not all these gifts were extra- 
ordinary in their character, and limited as to 
the period of their bestowment. Nor did every 
member of the early Church enjoy all these 
gifts. All were not even then “apostles,” all 
were not prophets, nor teachers, nor workers of 
miracles. There are, however, gifts of the 
Spirit which have been denominated “ordinary,” 
that is, which it is the privilege of every child of 
God in every age to enjoy. And, also, there 
are gifts which this redeemed world will possess 
until the consummation of all things. Such are 
his gifts of enlightenment and conviction to the 
world, of regeneration, the witness of adoption, 
and the entire sanctification of the believer. 

0 Howson and Conybeare, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 
vol. i., pp., 427, 428. Note. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 71 

Such are also the fruits of his indwelling and 
his grace — “ Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper- 
ance.” Gal. v, 22, 23. The first of these is the 
common heritage of humanity, and the second 
is the common heritage of the people of God ; 
they have been enjoyed by the Church from 
the day of Pentecost until now, and they will 
continue in it until the end of time. Nor has 
the Church, notwithstanding the apparent limit- 
ations of them, been entirely destitute of the 
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. I would not 
be considered as referring with any degree of 
favor to the mania of the Irvingites of England, 
who claimed to speak in “ unknown tongues.” 
Indeed, they were “ unknown.” They neither 
knew them themselves, nor did any living man 
know them. Their utterances were nothing 
but unintelligible jargon. Nor do I regard as 
worthy of serious notice the claims of the 
Elders of the Mormon Church to speak with 
tongues, and to perform miraculous works. 
Whatever of gibberish these poor deluded crea- 
tures indulge in, it certainly is not the speaking 
with tongues which characterized the apostolic 
age. Nor haye they ever been able to substan- 


72 The Mission of the Spirit . 

tiate a claim to the working of a genuine 
miracle. 

I do not say that the power to work miracles 
will never again be given to the Church. There 
is certainly no authority for believing or saying 
this. All that we know on this subject is the 
historical fact that the power to work miracles 
seems to have been limited to apostolic days. 
But, as a certain writer well says, “ Miracles 
were as the toiling of the great bell of the uni- 
verse to call the attention of mankind to the serv- 
ice. When the service has commenced the bell 
stops ; but it may ring out again when the serv- 
ice is over, and the congregation is going home.” 
How do we know but that the Holy Ghost may 
yet endow his ministers with this wondrous 
power ? What I would now, however, particu- 
larly refer to is the fact that there have been, 
in the history of the Church, instances of ex- 
traordinary faith, produced by the Holy Spirit, 
which have been marked by extraordinary mani- 
festations and results. There are instances in 
the life of Bramwell, of Pastor John Bort and 
his wife of the Department of Dordogna, in 
France, of Father Zeller of Bruggen, in the 
Grand Duchy of Baden, and of Muller, in Bris- 


73 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

tol, England, which are supernatural and super- 
human. I ask, Is not the faith exhibited by 
these persons extraordinary ? Have all Chris- 
tians had this gift ? Do all Christians have 
it? Furthermore, is it not the work of the 
Spirit to produce such a faith ? And when 
such a faith has been, and is exercised, is not 
God pleased to own and honor it? Yet, again, 
are we not warranted to expect that in the last 
days there will be more extraordinary manifesta- 
tions of the Spirit than any which the Church 
or the world have ever before witnessed ? I 
think so. What marvels or miracles may ac- 
company such visitations I cannot tell. One 
thing, however, is certain, that the Church 
scarcely yet conceives the wondrous power 
which she may realize and wield for her grand 
triumph in the world. Ay, and we have 
scarcely more than tasted of the fullness of the 
baptism of the Spirit — of his love, his light, his 
power, his peace, and his joy. O that our eyes 
may be opened to see the fullness of the promise ! 
O that our hearts may be opened to embrace 
the promises, and to know experimentally their 
fullness and their power ! 

There can be no doubt, then, that, long as this 


74 The Mission of the Spirit. 

dispensation lasts, the ungodly will have the 
illumination, the reproof, the conviction and the 
call of the Spirit unconditionally bestowed 
through the mediation of Jesus Christ, and 
that the believer will have the renewing power, 
the conscious witness of his forgiveness, his 
justification and adoption, and the sealing and 
sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. Ay, 
more : that he shall be endued with his power 
to witness for Christ, and be filled with the 
peace and joy and hope which he imparts. 
Never will these gifts be withdrawn from the 
Church or the world ; but we may expect that 
they will be enjoyed in greater fullness and in 
richer abundance as we approach the glories of 
the millennial period. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


75 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE COMFORTER THE SOURCE OF THE INSPI- 
RATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

T F the Bible is indeed the word of God, as 
it purports to be, then it is the prod- 
uct of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. If 
it is not the word of God, then it is the word 
of man, and, as such, has no claim upon the 
credence or confidence of intelligent beings. 
And more than this ; the writers of these 
books uniformly and unequivocally declare that 
they wrote and spoke at the dictate and under 
the inspiration of God. If, therefore, it could 
be ascertained that they were either deceivers 
or deceived, then their writings would be noth- 
ing but a tissue of falsehood and deceit. I can 
see no alternative. The writers of these books 
were what they professed to be — God-inspired 
men — or they were vile impostors, and deserve 
the reprobation of mankind. Here are sixty- 
six books, written during the progress of six- 
teen centuries by men of various conditions 


76 The Mission of the Spirit. 

and circumstances — from the humble shepherd 
to the great lawgiver, from the peasant to 
the monarch, from the unlettered fisherman to 
the learned and logical Paul — and yet all 
agree in their teaching of the character and will of 
God, the redemption of man, and a future state. 

Here, in this wondrous book, are history and 
poetry, narrative and description, prophecy and 
promise, at times rising to the most exalted 
strains of eloquence unequaled in all the liter- 
ature of this world, and then again falling to the 
simple record of genealogies, the familiar par- 
able, or the unvarnished narrative ; but all so 
wonderfully blended, so harmoniously wrought, 
that, like an inimitable mosaic, they exhibit only 
one plan or design. Of no human productions 
can this be said. 

Then, again, there never has been a book 
which has been called to pass through such 
an ordeal as this. It has been in the fiery 
crucible of criticism, investigation, and perse- 
cution for centuries gone by. The most acute 
minds, some animated by bitterest prejudice and 
hate, others sincere and honest inquirers after 
truth, have with the utmost scrutiny examined 
every book, every chapter, every verse, every 


77 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

sentence, and every word of this book. The 
history of nations, their arts and sciences, 
their customs and manners, their topography, 
hieroglyphics, entablatures, coins, their philo- 
sophies and their poetry, the exhumation of 
buried cities — all ha,ve been ransacked, or un- 
raveled, or deciphered, to confirm or disprove its 
records. Every new development of science 
has been, and still is, seized upon with the 
utmost avidity to ascertain if some fact or 
principle could not be evoked from it which would 
undermine or disprove the statements of this 
book. And yet, while not professing to teach 
science, and while adapting its references to it 
to the actual conditions of the times in which its 
books were written, nothing has yet been settled 
upon or fixed in science, in all its developments, 
during all the procession of the centuries, which 
in any sense conflicts with it. It is well known 
that in the early history of the sciences of 
astronomy, chemistry, and, later, of geology, 
men have supposed that they had found unmis- 
takable evidences of the falsity of the records 
of the Bible ; but subsequent investigation has 
demonstrated how utterly futile all such hasty 
conclusions and premature announcements 


j8 The Mission of the Spirit. 

were. And thus it must ever continue to be. 
The reason for this is obvious. The author and 
inspirer of this book is the same Almighty Spirit 
who erst moved upon the face of the mighty 
deep, bringing order out of disorder, and who 
garnished the heavens with beauty and glory. 
Look now at the fact, 

i. That this book claims to be inspired . — “ All 
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Tim. iii, 1 6 . 
“ For the prophecy came not in old time by the 
will of man : but holy men of God spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. i, 21 . 
“ Searching what, or what manner of time the 
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of 
Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 
i Pet. i, ii. All those prophecies then in the 
Old Testament Scriptures which speak of the 
sufferings of Christ, and the glory following those 
sufferings, were testified to and written under 
the influence of the Spirit of Christ which was 
in the ancient prophets. Our Saviour teaches 
us that David was inspired when he wrote 
Psalm cx : “ How then doth David in spirit 


79 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

[mark, by the Holy Ghost, that is, by his in- 
spiration] call him [Christ] Lord ?” Matt. xxii,43. 
St. Paul affirms the inspiration of Isaiah when 
he says, “ Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias 
the prophet unto our fathers.” Acts xxviii, 25. 
He also clearly announces the inspiration of 
David the Psalmist in Psalm xcv : “ Wherefore as 
the Holy Ghost saithP Heb. iii, 7. The Lord 
Jesus Christ puts the seal of his own acknowl- 
edgment and authority upon Moses, the prophets 
and the Psalms. (Luke xxiv, 44.) The apostles 
of our Lord were promised the same Spirit : 
“ But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
whom the Father will send in my name, he 
shall teach you all things, and bring all things 
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said 
unto you.” John xiv, 26. 

Well does a recent writer say, “ But whose 
design is this, which appears not in the sep- 
arate books, but in the collection taken as a 
whole ? The agents were severed from each 
other, and wrote as their respective terms of 
mind and historical circumstances determined. 
Where, then, was the presiding mind which 
planned the whole, and, in qualifying and em- 
ploying the chosen agents, divided to every 


8o 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

man severally as he would ? By the voice of 
the Church as a body, by the ever-accumulat- 
ing consent of her several members, an un- 
changing answer comes down from age to age. 
The Spirit of the Lord is here. 

“ Yes, the Spirit was to testify of Jesus, 
and the fourfold Gospel is his permanent tes- 
timony.” * 

2 . The writers of these books in nearly every 
instance directly announce that they wrote and 
spoke under this inspiration. Their predictions 
and statements are not made in their own 
names, or by their own authority, but it is uni- 
formly declared as “ Thus saith the Lord.” 
We have seen the authoritative sanction which 
Christ and his apostles have given to Moses, 
David, and the prophets, and the especial dec- 
laration of the inspiration of David and Isaiah. 
Let us see now how they speak of themselves 
and their writings. Moses frequently said to 
the children gf Israel, “ These are the words of 
the Lord your God.” And the law which he 
brought down from Sinai he declared was “writ- 
ten with the finger of God.” Deut. ix, io. Jere- 

* Bernard’s Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament, 
PP- 72, 73- 


The Mission of the Spirit . 8 1 

miah says that “ the word of the Lord came to 
him.” “ Then the Lord put forth his hand, and 
touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, 
Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” 
Jer. i, 2, 9. Ezekiel says, “The word of the 
Lord came expressly unto” him. Ezek. i, 3. 
Again, nearly every chapter begins as follows : 
“ The word of the Lord came unto me.” Dan- 
iel attributes his power to interpret dreams, and 
the visions which he had of the future, to the 
wisdom and power of God. (Dan. ii, 19-23, 27, 
28.) Nebuchadnezzar was made aware of this 
fact, and acknowledged it in his proclamation. 
(Dan. iv, 9.) The wife of Belshazzar evidently 
understood the same. (Dan. v, 11.) Daniel also 
assures us that he was able to understand the 
import of some of his own prophetical utter- 
ances and of his wonderful visions only by the 
tervention of an angel commissioned by God for 
this purpose. (Dan. viii, 16; ix, 21, 22; x, 11.) 

Hosea says, “ The word of the Lord came ” 
to him, (Hos. i, 1,) and all his announcements 
are made as from the Lord. It is the same 
with Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Na- 
hum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, and 
Malachi. 


15 


82 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

The proof of the inspiration of the New Tes- 
tament Scriptures is equally clear and positive. 
In the first place the Lord Jesus Christ ex- 
pressly promised the Holy Ghost to his apos- 
tles for the purpose of enabling them to re- 
member all he had said to them, and of 
guiding them into all truth. “ But the Com- 
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Fa- 
ther will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things, and bring all things to your remem- 
brance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” 
John xiv, 26. 

“ But when the Comforter is come, whom I 
will send unto you from the Father, even the 
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Fa- 
ther, he shall testify of me : and ye also shall 
bear witness, because ye have been with me 
from the beginning.” John xv, 26, 27. “ How- 

beit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all [the] truth : . . . and he 
will show you things to come. He shall glo- 
rify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall 
show it unto you.” John xvi, 13, 14. The evi- 
dence upon this point is so clear and explicit 
that argument is unneeded. In addition to 
this, the apostles and evangelists themselves 


83 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

claim to have written and spoken under the 
direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost. On the 
day of Pentecost the promised baptism of the 
Holy Ghost came upon the disciples, and, as 
the result of that baptism, they “ began to speak 
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 
utterance.” Acts ii, 4. And what did they thus 
speak ? Those who heard them bore testimony 
as follows : “ We do hear them speak in our 
tongues the wonderful works of God.” Acts 
ii, 11. The Apostle Paul in a number of in- 
stances claims this inspiration for himself and 
his co-apostles. “ But we speak the wisdom of 
God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, 
which God ordained before the world unto our 
glory.” “ Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
things which God hath prepared for them that 
love him. But God hath revealed them unto 
us by his spirit : ... Now we have received, not 
the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is 
of God ; that we might know the things that 
are freely given to us of God. Which things 
also we speak, not in the words which man’s 
wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost 
teacheth ; comparing spiritual things with spir- 


84 The Mission of the Spirit. 

itual” — that is, explaining spiritual things in 
spiritual words.* (i Cor. ii, 9, 10, 12, 13.) 

In his Epistle to the Galatians he says, “ I 
certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which 
was preached by me was not after man. For I 
neither received it of man, neither was I taught 
it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Gal. 
i, 11, 12. “ But when it pleased God to reveal 

his Son in me, that I might preach him among the 
heathen.” Gal. i, 15, 16. Once more, “If any 
man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, 
let him acknowledge the things which I write 
unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” 
I Cor. xiv, 37. It is needless to quote further, al- 
though, as Dr. Dwight says, “ In near two hun- 
dred different passages, in one manner and an- 
other, St. Paul asserts explicitly the inspiration 
of himself and his companions in the Gospel.” f 
But not only so. The apostles claim that the 
Gospel which they preached is “ the Gospel of 
God,” “ the Gospel of Christ,” “ the power of 
God unto salvation ;” that where it is be- 
lieved, “ it is the savor of life unto life,” and 
where it is rejected, “ it is the savor of death 
unto death ;” and, finally, that “ if any man, 

* Dr. Macknight. f Theology, vol. ii, p. 128. 


85 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

or if any angel, preach another Gospel, let him 
be accursed.” Then the whole New Testa- 
ment canon is closed by these words of solemn 
warning and threatening : “ If any man shall 
add unto these words, God shall add unto him 
the plagues that are written in this book : and 
if any man shall take away from the words of 
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away 
his part out of the book of life, and out of the 
holy city, and from the things which are writ- 
ten in this book.” Rev. xxii, 18, 19. 

Furthermore, in confirmation of that Gospel 
which they preached, miracles, signs, and won- 
ders were wrought by God through them. But 
would God work miracles to attest false or 
spurious doctrines ? Yea, is it to be supposed 
that he would work miracles to support a merely 
human opinion ? Was not the very design of 
his working these miracles to confirm the word 
spoken by the apostles, and to show to those 
who heard them that it was, indeed, his own 
word ? Is not the very idea that he would 
work miracles to support a falsehood blasphe- 
mous ? And if the apostles were not inspired 
of God to write and speak as they did, then 
they were deceivers, and their utterances were 


86 The Mission of the Spirit. 

false. Let us hear what they say on this sub- 
ject : “ And they went forth and preached 
every-where ; the Lord working with them, 
and confirming the word with signs [miracles] 
following.” Mark xvi, 20. 

So St. Paul says : “ How shall we escape, if 
we neglect so great salvation ; which at the first 
began to be spoken by the Lord, and was con- 
firmed unto us by those that heard him ; God 
also bearing them witness, both with signs and 
wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of 
the Holy Ghost, according to his own will ? ” 
Heb. ii, 3, 4. It is scarcely necessary to add 
that these truths and asseverations in reference 
to the source whence they were derived were 
uttered in the very midst of the severest per- 
secutions, privations, and perils ; and, finally, 
they sealed them with their own blood, thus 
giving the clearest and the highest evidence 
which they were capable of giving of their 
sincerity, their truthfulness, and their title to 
our credence. 

3. With equal clearness do the writers of the 
word of God claim that not only the substance 
of what they wrote was revealed unto them, but 
also that the very words in which they originally 


8 7 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

wrote these books were also directly from God. 
This position, of course, does not cover the 
blunders or biases of translators, the carelessness 
and mistakes of copyists, or the fallibility and 
weakness of interpreters ; but it does cover all 
that “ holy men of old,” whether prophets, apos- 
tles, or evangelists, “ wrote and spoke.” While 
it comes not within the province of this volume 
to enter largely into the discussion of this ques- 
tion, yet I may be permitted to present the two 
leading views held by the Christian world on 
this subject. The first I will speak of is that 
which regards this inspiration as plenary. It is 
thus presented by an able commentator of the 
present day : “ The inspiration of the sacred 
writers I believe to have consisted in the full- 
ness of the influence of the Holy Spirit, espe- 
cially raising them to, and enabling them for, 
their work, in a manner which distinguishes 
them from all other writers in the world \ and 
their work from all other works. The men 
were full of the Holy Ghost ; the books are the 
pouring out of that fullness through the men, 
the conservation of the treasure in earthen ves- 
sels. The treasure is ours in all its richness ; 
but it is ours, as only it can be ours, in the im- 


88 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

perfections of human speech, in the limitations 
of human thought, in the variety incident at first 
to individual character, and then to manifold 
transcription and the lapse of ages.” * On the 
other hand, many very able writers have held 
that this inspiration is verbal , or, in other words, 
that not only were the writers of the Bible so 
inspired by the Holy Ghost that the truths 
which they wrote or spoke were entirely free 
from all admixture of error, but that the very 
words in which these truths are uttered were 
also inspired. This harmonizes entirely with 
the position which I have here assumed. The 
objectors to this say that, if this is so, then we 
should have precisely the same style, the same 
forms of expression, the same narratives, and 
the same statements of the same facts. All, how- 
ever, will agree that the doctrine, the narrative, 
the fact is truly stated — so stated that there is 
not only perfect harmony among the inspired 
writers, but an infallible presentation of the 
truth of God. Of this there can be no doubt in 
the mind of any one who believes at all in the 
inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures. But those 
who make the objection referred to seem to 

* Alford. Prolegomena, vol. i, p. 21. 


8g 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

overlook the fact that in God’s word, as well as 
in God’s works, there is perfect harmony amid 
great diversity. The Spirit of the Lord has 
taken the minds of men as they were, with all 
their peculiarities, their weaknesses, their limi- 
tations of knowledge, and their surroundings of 
country, clime, language, manners, and customs, 
and has put his own words into their mouths 
or into their minds, and has spoken through 
them in view of all these circumstances, and 
yet so that nothing written or uttered by them 
is, or can be, untrue. The ten commandments, 
or words written by God upon the tables of 
stone, are directly and distinctly his own words. 
How constantly Moses told the children of 
Israel that what he commuhicated to them from 
God was exactly as God commanded him ! How 
careful he was to impress upon their minds that 
he was not to add unto those words, or diminish 
from them, under severest penalties. (Deut. iv, 2.) 
To quote all the places where this language is 
employed would be to transcribe a large part of 
the Pentateuch. So true is this, in fact, that if the 
words in which Moses spake to the people were 
not the words of God, he is plainly liable to the 
charge of gross imposture. The verbal inspira- 


90 The Mission of the Spirit. 

tion of David’s Psalms is witnessed to by Christ 
and his apostles : “For David himself said by 
the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord.” 
Mark xii, 36. “ Men and brethren, this scrip- 

ture must needs have been fulfilled, which the 
Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake.” Acts 
i, 1 6. “Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, 
To-day if ye will hear,” etc. (Psa. xcv, 7.) Heb. 
iii, 7. Isaiah opens his sublime prophecies by 
calling upon the heavens and the earth to hear, 
for the Lord hath spoken. (Isa. i, 2.) When 
Jeremiah hesitated to obey the divine command, 
saying, “ Ah, Lord God ! behold, I cannot speak : 
for I am a child.” “ Then the Lord put forth his 
hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord 
said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in 
thy mouth.” Jer. i, 6, 9. Over and over again 
God charged Ezekiel, saying, “ Thou shalt hear 
the word from my mouth, and shalt warn the 
people from me.” And in almost every chapter 
he directly attributes all he says to the “ word of 
the Lord which came to him.” 

It is needless to quote further from the Old 
Testament scriptures, as all the writers ac- 
knowledge directly and indirectly the same 
thing. And what the writers of the Old Testa- 


91 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

ment declare of themselves, the writers of the 
New Testament accord to them. “ God, who 
at sundry times and in divers manners spake 
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” 
Heb. i, i. “Holy men of God spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. i, 21. 
The same verbal inspiration is claimed by the 
apostles. “ Which things also we speak, not in 
the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but 
which the Holy Ghost teacheth .” These script- 
ures, I think, sufficiently prove the position 
which I have taken. And I may add that all 
those objections which Rationalists and others 
urge against the position, derived from the lan- 
guage of St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Co- 
rinthians, in the sixth and seventh chapters, 
and also from his directions to Timothy to 
bring his “ cloak which he left at Troas with 
Carpus, and his books and parchments,” may be 
urged with equal strength against the plenary 
inspiration of the apostle. The answers to these 
have been so frequently given that I need not 
attempt a reply here. I will only add the lan- 
guage of one of the most forcible writers of the 
present day, who, at the close of three arti- 
cles on this subject, says, “ May all Christian 


92 The Mission of the Spirit. 

scholarship accept the decision of modern phi- 
lology, of the laws of language, of the sancti- 
fied instincts of the faithful, of the historic 
Church, of the Scriptures themselves, and, with 
the angel of the Apocalypse, ever declare that 
* these are the true words of God ! ’ ” * 

* Rev. G. Haven, Methodist Quarterly Review, on Divine 
Element in Inspiration, Jan., April, July, 1868. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


93 


CHAPTER VII. 


THE COMFORTER CONVINCING THE WORLD OF 
SIN THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE. 



NE of the most important announcements 


made by Christ as to the coming of the 
Comforter was this : “ And when He is come, 
he will reprove [or convince] the world of sin, 
and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, 
because they believe not on me : of righteous- 
ness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me 
no more; of judgment, because the prince of 
this world is judged.” John xvi, 8-1 1. This 
announcement is important, because of the extent 
of the operations of the Comforter. “ He shall 
reprove [convince] the world” It is also im- 
portant if the character of his operations is care- 
fully regarded. He shall convince the world “ of 
sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.” The 
word eXeyxetv, which our translators render 
“reprove,” has a much deeper meaning. “ It is 
better rendered convince ; but still this does 
not express the double sense which is mani- 


94 The Mission of the Spirit . 

festly here intended, of a convincing unto salva- 
tion, and a convicting unto condemnation ; ‘ re- 
prove ’ is far too weak, conveying merely the idea 
of an objective rebuke ; whereas the original 
word reaches into the heart, and works sub- 
jectively in both the above-mentioned ways.”* 
It was not necessary that the Comforter should 
come to reprove the world of sin. “ The words 
of men, the thoughts of men, the eloquence of 
men, would have been sufficient to do this. 
Every body who in any age has lived a holy life, 
or in any way been better than his neighbors, 
has done this. Even an unholy man may re- 
prove sin. Poetry, in comedy and satire, had 
reproved the world of sin. Philosophy had re- 
proved the world of sin, and its reproofs were 
severer and more clamorous, but vainer than 
ever, when the Spirit of God began his great 
work.”f But the Comforter came to convince 
the world of sin, and in doing this he struck at 
the very root of all sin, namely, unbelief. “ Of sin, 
because they believe not in me.” This, indeed, 
is the great condemning sin of the world. In 
view of the great provisions of the Gospel, no 

° Vide Alford, in loco. 

f Hare, Mission of the Comforter, pp. 62, 63. 


95 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

man is condemned solely for being a sinner, or 
even for being a great sinner ; but because of 
his not believingly accepting Christ as his 
Saviour. So, upon the other hand, no man is 
saved by his virtue, honesty, good works, holy 
life. He must believe in Christ, or he will come 
under the condemnation of the Spirit. The 
plan of God for making men good, pure, and 
holy, differs from all the ways and means of 
man’s devising. Men see that sin exists in 
themselves and others. Not only so, they re- 
prove sin ; they despise, they hate it ; they even 
loathe themselves on account of it. But how 
do they go about to remedy it ? All their efforts 
are merely directed against the symptoms of the 
disease. If they can only succeed in allaying 
or in mitigating these they rest content. But 
have they succeeded in even doing this ? Still, 
after all their efforts, the fever rages with un- 
checked severity — still the inflammation spreads 
— still death is hovering near. Or, . they have 
tried to purify the streams of corruption ever 
issuing from the corrupt fountain of the human 
heart. They have cast into them one remedy 
after another, but still they have remained cor- 
rupt. Then they have vainly tried to dry up 


g6 The Mission of the Spirit. 

those streams. And every expedient which 
the human mind could conceive has been em- 
ployed to this end. But still the streams flow 
on as from an exhaustless fountain. Failing to 
purify or to dry up these streams, the effort has 
been made to dam them up— to hold them 
within certain limits, or to restrict them within 
fixed boundaries. To this end the whole juris- 
prudence of the world has been directed. Codes 
of law have been multiplied without number. 
Statutes have been enacted to cover every possi- 
ble case of human sin and guilt ; and all of the 
dreadful majesty of the law-makers, of judges, 
and executioners, of pains and penalties, of fines 
and imprisonments, and even of the death- 
penalty, executed ofttimes with the most horrid 
barbarities ; and yet, while many have been 
restrained from the outward and overt act of 
which alone the law can take cognizance, multi- 
tudes have still gone on in the ways of wicked- 
ness. The pent-up streams have burst forth, 
breaking down the barriers which had restrained 
them, and spreading every-where, in their fearful 
sweep, ruin and desolation. Or, they have en- 
deavored to make good fruit grow upon a corrupt 
tree ; to make grapes grow upon the thorn-bush, 


The Mission of the Spirit. 97 

or figs upon the thistle. Such have been the 
weary and unsuccessful efforts of the world 
during the by-gone centuries. Nor have men 
yet abandoned the vain attempt. Still men 
look upon sin as an accident, as a misfortune, 
as the result of unfavorable surroundings — of 
birth, food, climate, or education, and they are 
plying their remedies accordingly. 

But not so works the Comforter. He strikes 
at the very root and seat of the disease at once. 
He comes to cleanse the fountain, that its 
streams may be both pure and sweet ; he 
comes to make the tree good, that its branches 
may be laden with ripe and luscious fruits. 
To save the world from sin he strikes at the 
very source of all sin — unbelief. Now the work 
of the Comforter in the heart of the unregen- 
erate man, first of all, is to convince him of his 
need of Christ. That man has not believed that 
he is in need of such a Saviour is evident. 
He has not believed that his condition is so 
fearful, so perilous, and so alarming as to make 
it necessary for him to come to Christ. As a 
consequence of this he has made no effort to 
secure an interest in the blood of the Lamb of 

God, and hence has remained with all the 
7 


98 The Mission of the Spirit. 

weight of his unpardoned sins upon his soul, and 
with the terrible vengeance of God overhanging 
his unsheltered head. But when the Comforter 
comes to that one, he so reveals his condition to 
him that he sees, he feels , his lost and undone 
state, and hence he is made deeply conscious 
of his need of Christ — of an all-sufficient, al- 
mighty, divine Christ. And in all the long 
catalogue of his sins now unrolled before his 
eyes he sees none so dark, so aggravated, and 
so condemning, as that of his willful rejection of 
Jesus Christ. Now the Comforter becomes to 
him “the Spirit of bondage unto fear.” He 
beholds himself held in a bondage the most 
abject, and bowed under a burden too intolera- 
ble to be borne ; hence he cries out, “ O wretched 
man that I am ! Who shall deliver me from 
the body of this death ? ” Or, like Bunyan’s 
Pilgrim, he is bound under a burden which 
presses him to the earth, and he seeks and 
sighs for deliverance. At once he is also con- 
vinced “ of righteousness.” Not of his own, for 
he has none. All his boasted “ righteousnesses ” 
now seem to him only as “ filthy rags.” What 
he wants, what he is convinced he must have, 
is a spotless righteousness in which to appear 


99 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

before God. That righteousness he sees he 
cannot work out for himself. He has labored 
at the loom for many a year for this purpose, 
but the garment, whatever it may be, which he 
has wrought out is not the garment which a 
holy God requires. The Comforter now pre- 
sents Christ before him as “ The Lord, our 
righteousness.” He shows to him how he 
demonstrated his own righteousness by going 
to the Father ; how, while the world crucified 
him as a malefactor, God the Father has hon- 
ored and declared him to be his Son with 

power by the resurrection from the dead, and 
had “ exalted him to his own right hand, far 

above all principality, and power, and every 
name that is named.” There is also now re- 
vealed to him the way, the plan, of God’s right- 
eousness through the atoning sacrifice of Cal- 
vary, and that it is only through the blood and 
righteousness of Christ that it is possible for 
him to be constituted righteous in the sight 
of a holy God. And further, the means by 
which this righteousness may be obtained are 
made to appear. That it is not by doing this 
or that, but by believing on the Lord Jesus 
Christ that the dying sinner comes into the 


TOO 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

possession of this blood-purchased righteous- 
ness. “ The righteousness which is of faith 
speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, 
Who shall ascend into heaven ? that is, to bring 
Christ down from above : or, Who shall descend 
into the deep ? that is, to bring up Christ again 
from the dead. But what saith it ? The word 
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy 
heart : that is, the word of faith, which we 
preach ; that if thou shalt confess with thy 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in 
thine heart that God hath raised him from the 
dead, thou shalt be saved.” Rom. x, 6-9. 

Another part of the work of the Comforter is 
to convince the world of “judgment” — “of 
judgment, because the prince of this world is 
judged.” This does not refer primarily to the 
final judgment, as is generally supposed. This 
is a judgment which is daily and hourly being 
rendered. It is the conviction which the Spirit 
of God produces in the human soul that the 
judgment of this world of God’s character, of 
Christ’s atoning sacrifice, of sin and its de- 
served punishment, of righteousness and its 
absolute necessity, is all wrong, is diametrically 
opposed to God’s judgment, and is condemned 


IOI 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

both by his divine law and the economy of his 
grace. This judgment of an ungodly world is 
formed and exercised under the power and in- 
fluence of the Prince of Darkness. It is he 
who “ blinded the minds of them which believe 
not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, 
who is the image of God, should shine unto 
them.” 2 Cor. iv, 4. They are not always con- 
scious of this power which is exercised upon 
them ; ay, even in many instances they deny 
its existence ; but the Comforter will convince 
them of the fearful delusion under which they 
have been laboring, and of the awful bondage 
in which they have been held. For instance, 
under the influence of “ the prince of this 
world ” they have regarded sin as a trifling 
thing ; they have looked upon the service of 
God as a gloomy and miserable drudgery ; they 
have laughed at God’s threatened judgments, 
and trifled with the terrors of his law ; they 
have imagined that they could live in sin and 
die in sin, and yet obtain at last everlasting life. 
Thus they have been shut up in unbelief, and 
thus, too, they are prejudged and precondemned. 
For “ he that believeth not is condemned al- 
ready, because he hath not believed in the 


102 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 
iii, 1 8. And so the Prince of this World is 
judged and condemned already, in premonition 
of his final and everlasting condemnation at the 
second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then 
he shall go out no more to deceive the nations. 
Then he shall be “cast into the lake of fire,” 
and “ be tormented day and night for ever and 
ever.” Rev. xx, io. 

But let it be remembered by every one that 
what the Comforter does in the human soul is 
to convince it of these things. It is not prom- 
ised that he shall produce great feeling or deep 
emotion, but simply convince of sin, of righteous- 
ness, and of judgment. This conviction is fre- 
quently accompanied by these deep emotions, 
and sometimes they are alarming and over- 
whelming. But this is not always the case. 
All that the divine economy provides for, and 
that is enough, is to produce in the mind 
such a conviction of sin as that it will feel its 
need of Christ so as to make application to him 
for salvation, and believe upon him for its re- 
ception and enjoyment. Some persons who 
are truly convinced of sin are greatly troubled 
because they do not feel as they think they 


The Mission of the Spirit. 103 

should, or as they have seen others feel. This 
is a great mistake. If man is truly convinced 
of his sin, of his condemnation, of his need of 
Christ, and of his exposure to the wrath of God, 
this is all that is necessary to produce in him a 
most earnest desire for salvation, and to call 
forth from him the most determined and perse- 
vering efforts for its enjoyment. 

By the influence of the Comforter every hu- 
man soul, in every place and age of the world, 
has been made conscious of sin to a greater or 
less extent, and with more or less clearness. 
It is in view of this that sacrifices have bled all 
along the ages, and among all nations, and men 
have undertaken pilgrimages, practiced pen- 
ances, lacerated their bodies, tortured their 
limbs, and even devoted their offspring or them- 
selves to death, to be rid of this conscious bur- 
den. The Prophet Micah gathers up into one 
piercing wail the universal outcry of a sin- 
burdened humanity in its desire to be delivered 
from sin and its fearful condemnation. “ Where- 
with shall I come before the Lord, and bow 
myself before the high God ? shall I come 
before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a 
year old ? Will the Lord be pleased with thou- 


104 The Mission of the Spirit. 

sands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers 
of oil ? shall I give my first-born for my trans- 
gression, the fruit of my body for the sin of 
my soul?” Micah vi, 6, 7. This consciousness 
of sin and guilt often becomes a burden from 
which the sinner groans to be delivered. This 
has been realized in thousands of instances. 
Often, under the preaching of the word, by 
some providence, by the sudden awakening of 
the conscience, in dreams of the night, by a 
single word spoken by a Christian friend, or 
even by a little child, or by a recalling of ser- 
mons, exhortations, vows, and promises — in an 
instant the sins of a life-time have been made 
to appear before the eye of the sinner, and he 
has been made to confront the terrible conse- 
quences of his guilt. Then a sense of bondage 
to fear, of a heavy burden, has come upon the 
soul ; then fearful promonitions of a coming 
vengeance are realized ; then the fountain of 
tears is unsealed ; and then the cry goes up 
from the burdened heart, “ What must I do to 
be saved ? ” 

It has been often remarked of late that con- 
viction of sin has not seemed to be so deep or 
so overpowering as it was in former years. One 


io5 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

reason among others that has been assigned for 
this is that the masses of those who attend 
upon our ministrations have been religiously 
trained, and are consequently familiar with the 
truths of the Gospel, so that they do not pro- 
duce that impression which they would if those 
truths were new or unknown. This I regard 
as a very unsatisfactory answer. Is it not rath- 
er true that the pulpits of our land have failed 
to proclaim clearly and unhesitatingly the ter- 
rors of God’s law ? Have not many good min- 
isters, men of undoubted piety, been restrained 
from doing this for fear of offending “ears po- 
lite ? ” Has there not been, is there not now , 
a practical unbelief, a practical universalism, 
prevalent among the ministry and membership 
of our Churches ? Have not the thunders of 
Sinai been hushed, and its lightnings vailed ? 
It is, indeed, very pleasant to speak of the melt- 
ing strains of Calvary, or to dwell upon the 
heavenly mansions, the jasper walls, and the 
gates of pearl. But, historically as well as 
experimentally, Mount Sinai comes before 
Mount Calvary. The Comforter not only con- 
vinces man of the fact and the existence of sin, 
but also of its damning character. And when 


io 6 The Mission of the Spirit. 

God’s ministers have uttered these truths as 
they are in Jesus, his divine power has always 
accompanied the truth, and sealed it upon hu- 
man hearts and consciences. We have been 
cowed down by the derisive cry of the godless 
and unbelieving world against preaching the 
fiery terrors of the law, and cowardly and pusil- 
lanimously we have yielded to its demand upon 
us to “ prophesy smooth things.” We are expe- 
riencing the bitter fruits of this in an emascu- 
lated Christianity — a pale, sickly, powerless 
thing. Let the ministry of our land, then, and 
of the whole world, follow the teachings of the 
Comforter in his divine word, and his convic- 
tions in their hearts, and let them, “knowing 
the terrors of the Lord, persuade men ; ” and 
not only will many more be persuaded to be- 
come Christians, but they will also go out from 
our sanctuaries in greater numbers, crying out, 
“ Men and brethren, what shall we do ? ” * 

* On this whole subject read Hare on the Mission of tht 
Comforter. 


The Mission of the Spirit . 107 


CHAPTER VIII. 


THE COMFORTER AS THE REGENERATOR. 

HE law of Regeneration, or of the new 



birth, is absolute in the kingdom of God. 
“ Except a man be born again, he cannot — 
ov dvvaTcu — see the kingdom of God.” John 
iii, 5. No language could more clearly express 
the deep, the tremendous necessity of this work. 
Now if all that is meant by this work is the 
sprinkling of a few drops of water upon the 
brow, or even a submergence into “ the floods 
of great waters,” or if man, by the mere exer- 
ercise of his volitional powers, could accomplish 
what it requires or imports, then we might ex- 
clude the necessity of a divine Almighty agency. 
But if we carefully look at what this require- 
ment is, we shall see that no other power can 
accomplish it. See what is required. A man 
“ must be born again,” literally born from above 
— from heaven — from God. This is further ex- 
pressed by the Saviour in verse 5, when he says, 
“ Except a man be born of water and of the 


108 The Mission of the Spirit. 

Spirit” — of water as the outward and visible 
sign, and of the Spirit, as the divine, efficient 
agent — “ he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
God” 

We shall be readily convinced of the great- 
ness of this work, and of the necessity of a divine 
agent for its performance, if we look carefully 
at the language which the word of God employs 
in describing it. It is called a “ quickening .” 
Eph. ii, i. A being made alive from the dead. 
It is called a tra, 7 islation from the kingdom of 
darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. 
(Col. i, 13.) It is called a new creation , in 
which old things have passed away, and all 
things have become new. (2 Cor. v, 17.) It is 
frequently spoken of as a 'change from sin to 
holiness, from bondage to liberty, from darkness 
to light, and from death to life. Now, a work 
so great and so momentous as this is certainly 
beyond the power of men or angels to perform. 
Hence the word of God uniformly ascribes 
this work to the Spirit. (John iii, 5 ; Tit. iii, 5.) 
In other places it is ascribed to the Father, and 
in others still to the Son. But nowhere in the 
word of God is this work ascribed to man, 
or declared to be within his power to do. 


The Mission of the Spirit . 109 

Nowhere is it even hinted at that it can be done 
by baptism alone. 

When we bring our children to the altars of 
our churches to receive the baptismal dew upon 
their brows, it is not that any change can be 
effected in their character by this act. But it 
is to acknowledge that our offspring inherit the 
rich benefits of the redemptional work of 
Christ, and that they are, and of right ought 
to be, the children of God. Baptism does not 
make or constitute our children children of 
God. They are already the children of God in 
Christ Jesus before baptism. And while it is 
the duty of parents to recognize these existing 
relations by this solemn and impressive rite, 
yet the condition and relation of the child 
toward God and heaven are just the same be- 
fore baptism as after it. The child, subsequent 
to baptism, doubtless sustains a different rela- 
tion to the visible Church, and the parents have 
acknowledged the obligations which rest upon 
them to give him a religious training ; but 
otherwise no change whatever is produced. If 
children and adults can be saved, or regenerated, 
by the baptism of water alone, and if without 
regeneration they cannot enter into the king- 


no The Mission of the Spirit. 

dom of God, but must forever perish, then the 
theory and practice of compulsory baptism, as 
held by the Romish Church, have great show 
of reason and humanity in it. 

But this work none but God can perform. “ If,” 
says a most earnest writer,* “ it were only a little 
mending, a little patching, a little turning over 
of a new leaf, then man might do this.” But 
when it is a creation , a translation, a transforma- 
tion, a resurrection, God must do it. The cause 
must always be adequate to the production of 
the effect. And where, I ask, has this moral, 
this spiritual transformation ever occurred with- 
out the direct almighty agency of the Eternal 
Spirit ? But by his power, countless multitudes 
have been thus regenerated and transformed. 
The instances are too numerous, indeed, to 
allow any more than a reference to them. They 
have been occurring all through the ages ; and, 
blessed be God ! they are now daily occurring. 
The character of the work wrought in many, 
very many instances, as to its reality and genu- 
ineness and blessed results, cannot be doubted 
by any honest mind. The work wrought has 
been evidently not the work of man, but of 
* Ryle. 


1 1 1 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

God. Truly has Mr. Wesley said, “ Nothing 
but that power which made a world can make a 
Christian.” Indeed, this work is only paralleled 
by the work of creation. “ If any man be in 
Christ, he is a new creature ” — a new creation. 
2 Cor. v, 1 7. “ God, who commanded the light 

to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our 
hearts.” 2 Cor. iv, 6. What wonders has the 
Comforter wrought in the regeneration of human 
souls ! Men who have been guilty of nearly 
every sin — bold blasphemers, relentless perse- 
cutors, licentious, covetous extortioners, men 
sunken to the lowest depths of degradation and 
infamy — have been renewed, purified, and saved ; 
have lived and died in the enjoyment of God’s 
favor ; and have exemplified in life and death 
the sweetness, the purity, and the power of 
saving grace. It was so in the early history of 
the Church ; it is so now. Look at the mem- 
bers of the Corinthian Church. After the 
apostle had enumerated nearly every crime in 
the catalogue, he says : “ And such were some 
of you : but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, 
but ye are justified in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. 
vi, 11. So with the members of the Ephesian 


1 12 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Church ; they had “ walked according to the 
course of this world, according to the prince of 
the power of the air.” Eph. ii, 2. They had 
been “ dead in trespasses and in sin ;” they 
were “ children of wrath even as others.” But 
they had been “ quickened,” “ raised up, and 
made to sit together in heavenly places ” — liter- 
ally, in the heavenlies — “ in Christ Jesus ;” they 
were “ made nigh by the blood of Christ,” and 
“ built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
prophets,” and were growing up “unto a holy 
temple in the Lord.” Eph. ii, 6, 13, 20, 22. 
The same thing was true of the Church at 
Colosse. Its members had been guilty of “ for- 
nication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil 
concupiscence.” Col. iii, 5. But in their new 
state the apostle writes to them : “ And you, 
being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision 
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with 
him, having forgiven you all trespasses ; blot- 
ting out the handwriting of ordinances that was 
against us, which was contrary to us, and took 
it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Col. ii, 
13, 14. They were now “risen with Christ;” 
they had “ put on the new man,” and were 
“the elect of God, holy and beloved.” Col. iii, 1, 


The Mission of the Spirit . 1 1 3 

iii, 1, 10, 12. The Thessalonians had been wor- 
shipers of “dumb idols,” and had practiced the 
abominable rites of that worship ; but they had 
been turned from them “ to serve the living and 
the true God.” 1 Thess. i, 9. Their piety was 
eminent. They “ were ensamples to all that 
believed in Macedonia and Achaia.” Their 
“ faith,” also, “ grew exceedingly, and the 
charity of every one of (them) you all toward 
each other aboundeth.” 2 Thess. i, 3. And 
these miracles of grace have been repeated all 
along the ages. It is no argument against 
these statements that many who have professed 
to be Christians are not what they ought to 
be, and furnish no evidence whatever of any 
change in their character and life. All this is 
readily admitted ; and yet the fact remains undis- 
puted that there are many who, although their 
previous course was one of sin and shame, are 
now living blameless and harmless, in all the 
various conditions and relations of life. Now 
what has effected this change ? Certainly it 
is not philosophy — it is not the adoption of 
any mere system of ethics — it is not the result 
of the self-determining power of the will — it is 

not a development — for that would only have 
8 


1 14 The Mission of the Spirit. 

been from bad to worse ; it is not any condition 
of the natural. We must therefore conclude 
when such cases occur, as, blessed be God ! 
they frequently do, that this is the work of 
God — that it is the result of the mighty opera- 
tion of the Holy Ghost. 


The Mission of the Spirit . 


1 15 


CHAPTER IX. 


THE COMFORTER AS THE WITNESS-BEARER. 

HERE are two great possibilities in the 



- 1 * condition of every adult human being, re- 
sulting directly from the redemptional work of 
the Son of God. The first is, that he may be 
certainly saved; and the second is, that he may 
have a certain knowledge that he is saved. Of 
the first-named of these possibilities there can 
be no doubt in the mind of any one who believes 
in the sacrificial character of the death of Christ, 
and in the universality of the provisions of the 
atonement. “ Christ Jesus came into the world 
to save sinners,” (1 Tim. i, 15,) and “ by the grace 
of God he tasted death for every man,” (Heb. ii, 
9,) is the grand evangel proclaimed to our world. 
And along with that announcement comes the 
blessed assurance that he that believeth on him 
shall be saved , no matter who y or where , or what 
he is. But when we come to inquire, May a 
man know that he is saved, that his sins are 


1 1 6 The Mission of the Spirit. 

forgiven him, and that he is a child of God ? 
many doubt, hesitate, and even deny that he 
may. Now, in addition to the positive evidence 
which I shall adduce from the word of God to 
sustain the position which I have assumed, 
there are some presumptive evidences to which 
the attention of the reader is desired. 

It is hardly probable then, I say, that, after 
God has made such a provision for the sal- 
vation of the sinner at an infinite expense, 
when man has complied with the condi- 
tions upon which he has proffered that salva- 
tion to him, he will leave him still in doubt and 
uncertainty as to whether he is saved or not. 
There cannot certainly be any reason advanced 
why God should will that his creatures must be 
left in the dark upon a question of such vital 
importance to them. If it is his will that man 
should be saved — and who can doubt this ? — 
it does seem clear that he should also will that 
he should know he is saved. Again, here I am, 
an immortal being, hurrying on through time to 
meet the changeless destinies of eternity, know- 
ing that I must dwell forever either with the 
angels and with God, or with devils and damned 
spirits, and is it possible that I cannot know 


The Mission of the Spirit. 1 1 7 

whither I am going ? what is my actual charac- 
ter and relation to God and eternity ? Must I 
live in the dark and die in the dark ? Must I 
go on to eternity without knowing whether I 
shall be among the saved or the lost ? Am I 
not to know until after probation is ended, or 
until the judgment is set, whether my portion 
shall be among the blessed or the damned ? 
In view of these considerations I ask, Is it not 
presumable that if I comply with the conditions 
of the Gospel, and God for Christ’s sake par- 
dons my sins, he will give me a knowledge of 
the fact in some. way ? 

Again, the character of the work wrought 
by the Holy Spirit in the soul is such that it 
seems probable that he would give his testimony 
to the fact that such a work has been done. 
That it is possible for the Comforter to do this 
work, or bear this witness in the soul, is evi- 
dent. No person can reasonably doubt this. 
If he can act directly upon the mind and heart 
of man in producing conviction for sin, and the 
sense “ of bondage unto fear,” then he can act 
directly upon his mind or spirit, giving the con- 
sciousness of sins forgiven and of adoption into 
the divine family. This brings us at once to 


1 1 8 The Mission of the Spirit. 

the question, Will he do this work ? Will he 
bear his testimony within the heart of the actu- 
ally forgiven, justified, and adopted believer, 
that this great change in his condition and re- 
lation has been wrought ? The evidence for 
the affirmative of this question is clear and con- 
clusive. The language of the apostle on this 
point is explicit. Writing to the Romans, he 
says, “Ye have not received the spirit of bond- 
age again to fear ; but ye have received the 
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Fa- 
ther. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
spirit , that we are the children of God.” Rom. 
viii, 15, 1 6. Again, “Because ye are sons, God 
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. iv, 6. 
Hence it appears that the facts of man’s par- 
don and adoption are not left to mere guess- 
work, to conjecture, to inference, or induction, 
but are directly revealed unto the soul by the 
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. And, in 
fact, in no other way can this be fully or satis- 
factorily known. What I want to know is, Are 
my sins forgiven me ? Of course, no one who 
reads this book will for a moment believe that 
any man or any hierarchy has the right or 


The Mission of the Spirit . 1 1 9 

the power to absolve me. It is God against 
whom I have sinned. It is God’s forgiveness 
that I must have. But the question still re- 
turns, “ How am I to know that God has for- 
given me ?” “ How is the act of pardon which 

passes in the depths of the Divine Mind to be 
made known to me ?” The priest, assuming to 
stand in the place of God, may say to me, “ Ab- 
solvo teT But how does he know that God ab- 
solves me. “ May he not be mistaken ? ” “ As 
he is nothing but an erring man, may he not has- 
tily and unwarrantably pronounce me forgiven 
when really I am not forgiven, and so, after all 
his absolution, may I not still be under the wrath 
of God ? ” But there are those who will tell me 
that I must judge from my feelings, my state 
and condition, whether I am a child of God or 
not. But this would certainly be a most unsafe 
ground upon which to base my hopes. I am 
naturally inclined to put the most favorable 
construction upon my character and conduct, 
and so I may easily deceive myself. What I 
want is a knowledge of this fact so clear, direct, 
and positive, that I need have no further doubt 
that this work has been wrought. But there 
are others still who will tell me, “You must 


120 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

take the word of God and compare your char- 
acter, conduct, and experiences with its teach- 
ings, and if there is a correspondence, a har- 
mony, between the written word and your ex- 
perience, then you may properly and safely 
conclude that you are a child of God. Now 
this I know is all well enough in its place. 
This is the witness of my own spirit ; but what 
I want is God’s witness or testimony. There 
is nothing in the Bible which tells me that my 
“sins are forgiven me.” That blessed book 
gives me certain marks or signs by which I 
may judge whether I have the general charac- 
teristics of a child of God. But I must be a 
child of God before I can have these marks. 
Now can I know at the time when I become a 
child of God that I am indeed in this blessed 
relation ? I regard, then, the language already 
quoted as distinctly teaching that God has 
made a provision entirely adequate to meet 
this felt want of my soul, and the blessed 
Comforter is the only one in the universe who 
can act in this great work. 

When the Son of God was upon the earth he 
proclaimed directly to the forgiven one, “ Thy 
sins are forgiven thee.” Matt, ix, 7 ; Mark ii, 5 ; 


1 2 1 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Luke vii, 48. But he is no longer here. He 
is gone away into the heavens, and “ is seated 
at the right hand of God.” But before he went 
he promised another Comforter to carry on his 
great designs and to complete his wonderful 
work. Now it is this Comforter which brings 
and bears this witness to the consciousness of 
the believer of his forgiveness and of his son- 
ship. I have already referred to his eminent 
fitness for this work. This the apostle dis- 
tinctly presents before us when he says, What 
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit 
of man which is in him ? even so the things 
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of 
God.” And the Spirit of God “ searcheth all 
things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. ii, 
10, 11. Consequently, when the act of pardon 
passes in the Divine Mind, the Eternal Spirit is 
in agreement therewith, and is fully cognizant 
thereof. Now, then, God the Father, who, for 
the sake of his only-begotten Son, hath for- 
given the sinner, and adopted him into his di- 
vine family, “ sends forth the Spirit of his Son 
into the heart of the forgiven and adopted one, 
crying ‘Abba, Father.’” That is, by his pres- 
ence in the soul, and the witness which he 


122 The Mission of the Spirit. 

bears to the soul, he calls forth the filial cry 
from the adopted child. 

Does any one ask me now, “ How is this wit- 
ness borne in the soul of the believer ? ” I an- 
swer, I cannot fully tell, any more than I can ex- 
plain the manner in which the Spirit regenerates 
the human soul. The manner is unknown, but 
the blessed fact is clear to the consciousness of 
the child of God. But what then is this witness ? 
No uninspired writer ever so clearly expressed 
this as Mr. Wesley has done in his sermon upon 
this subject. He says, “By the testimony of 
the Spirit, I mean an inward impression on the 
soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately 
and directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a 
child of God ; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, 
and given himself for me : that all my sins are 
blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to 
God.”* But is it not possible to be deceived 
about this witness ? May not a person think 
that he has such a witness, when indeed he has 
it not ? I answer, There is no necessity whatever 
for deception here, nor scarcely a possibility of 
it to an honest and sincere soul. For, where 
this witness of the Spirit is made directly to the 

* Wesley’s Sermons, vol. i, p. 94. 


123 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

soul, there is always the corroborating testimony 
of our own spirit. On this point Dr. Chalmers 
well says, “ The part which our own spirit has 
is, that with the eye of consciousness we read 
what is in ourselves, and with the eye of the 
understanding we read what is in the book of 
God’s testimony. And upon our perceiving 
that such as the marks of grace which we find 
to be within so are the marks of grace which 
we observe in the description of that word with- 
out that the Spirit incited, we arrive at the con- 
clusion that we are born of God.” * But when 
he says in the same lecture, “ I could not, with- 
out making my own doctrine outstrip my own 
experience, vouch for any other intimation of 
the Spirit of God than that which he gives in 
the act of making the word of God clear unto 
you, and the state of your own heart clear unto 
you,” f he evidently limits the word of God by 
the standard of his own experience. Now that 
the Spirit of God does all that Dr. Chalmers says, 
in the heart, and on the inspired page, we fully 
believe. But he does more than this. He does 
not leave us to an inference ; he witnesses di- 
rectly in the heart. And, although in conse- 

* Lecture on the Romans, p. 275. f Ibid., 276. 


1 24 The Mission of the Spirit. 

quence of the creed of Dr. Chalmers, he, and 
many others of the same faith, have been hin- 
dered from enjoying this clear and blessed 
testimony, yet this will not weigh against the 
clear utterance of God’s revealed truth, nor the 
joyful experience of countless thousands of be- 
lievers. This blessed witness in the soul is 
guarded by the concurrent witness of the soul, 
and thus is distinguished from “ the presump- 
tion of the natural mind, and from the delusion 
of the devil.” The word of God has certain infalli- 
ble signs by which we may know whether or 
not the witness in our hearts is, indeed, the 
work of the Spirit. Wherever the witness of 
the Spirit is, there are, also, “the fruits of the 
Spirit.” It is as much a matter of my own con- 
sciousness whether I have these fruits of the 
Spirit or not, as it is whether I now breathe and 
live. And if, when I am made conscious by the 
indwelling and witnessing of the Comforter that 
I am a child of God, I have also the conscious- 
ness that I have “ love, joy, peace, long-suffer- 
ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and 
temperance,” (Gal. v, 22, 23,) then without pre- 
sumption, and with filial confidence, I may cry, 
“Abba, Father.” Thus the child of God may 


125 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

stand upon a rock, and “ rejoice in hope of the 
glory of God.” But without this clear witness 
of our childship , we can have no clear witness of 
our heirship. “ If children, then heirs.” But I 
must be a child before I can be an heir. And 
I must know that I am a child before I can 
know that I am an heir. If I have doubts or 
misgivings upon the one point, I shall certainly 
have them upon the other. If I am in the dark 
as to my sonship, I certainly shall be in the dark 
as to my heirship. But if I have the Spirit’s wit- 
ness in my soul crying within me, Abba, Father, 
and the fruits of the Spirit in my heart and in my 
life demonstrating that I am not deceived, then 
“ I can read my title clear” to my heavenly in- 
heritance ; then all doubts and fears evanish from 
my mind, and then I can say, I “know if the 
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 
I have a building of God, a house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. v, i. 

This great doctrine is not peculiar to Method- 
ism, but it has been clearly taught by the lead- 
ing minds in the Church in all periods of its 
history. Wherever the Gospel has been clearly 
and powerfully preached, this great truth has 
been prominently brought forward, and this 


126 The Mission of the Spirit. 

blessed experience, in various degrees of clear- 
ness, has been enjoyed. Luther says, “ He that 
hath not assurance spews faith out.” Melanch- 
thon declares that, “ Assurance is the dividing 
line between Christianity and heathenism.” 
Rutherford writes to a friend, “ Make meikle 
(much) of assurance, for it keepeth your anchor 
fast.” Bishop Andrews, in his sermon on the 
Holy Ghost, says,* “It is the proper effect of 
the blood of Christ to cleanse our consciences 
from dead works to serve the living God ; which, 
if we find it doth, Christ is to come to us as he 
is to come ; and the Spirit is come, and puts his 
teste , (witness.) And if we have his teste, we 
may go our way in peace ; we have kept a right 
feast to him, and to the memory of his coming.” 
Bishop Hooker, in his sermon on the Certainty 
of Faith, says, “The Spirit which God hath 
given us to assure us that we are the sons of 
God, to enable us to call him our Father.” Also, 
in his sermon on Jude, “ Unto you, because ye 
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his 
Son into your hearts, to the end ye might know 
that Christ hath built you upon a rock immova- 

* Watson’s Institutes, vol. ii, pp. 282, 283. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 127 

ble, that he hath registered your names in the 
book of life.” The same truth was proclaimed by 
Archbishop Usher, Bishop Brownrigg, Bishop 
Pearson, on the creed, Dr. Isaac Barrow, and a 
multitude of others. Stier well remarks, “ That 
there must ever remain uncertainty among men 
concerning God’s forgiveness in heaven, is the 
Pharisaic Catholic doctrine.” The dying testi- 
mony of Samuel Wesley, Sen., was, “The inward 
witness, the inward witness, that is the proof — 
the strongest proof of Christianity.” Mr. Wes- 
ley, while clearly announcing this doctrine, dis- 
claims any originality, and says, “ With regard 
to the assurance of faith, I apprehend that the 
whole Christian Church in the first centuries 
enjoyed it. For though we have few points of 
doctrine explicitly taught in the small remains 
of the ante-Nicene fathers, yet, I think, none 
that carefully read Clemens Romanus, Ignatius, 
Polycarp, Origen, or any other of them, can 
doubt whether either the writer himself pos- 
sessed it, or all whom he mentions, as real 
Christians. And I really conceive, both from 
the Harmonia Confessionum , and whatever else 
I have occasionally read, that all reformed 


128 The Mission of the Spirit. 

Churches in Europe did once believe, ‘Every 
true Christian has the divine evidence of his 
being in favor with God.’ ” * 

And, indeed, there can be no satisfactory 
Christian experience without this witness. In 
order to be a Christian at all my sins must be for- 
given me, and I am required to be a “ new crea- 
ture in Christ Jesus.” But how am I to know 
that the one has been done for me, and the other 
done in me, unless I have the Spirit’s witness ? 
And if the Holy Ghost is not in me as an abid- 
ing guest and gift, I can certainly lay no claim 
to the character or the experience of a Christian. 
But can he abide in me without my being con- 
scious of his presence ? And if he is in me, 
then will he not bear his own testimony to his 
own work ? What is any one as a Christian 
without the Holy Ghost ? Our religion without 
his presence and mighty working will be noth- 
ing but a form without power, a skeleton with- 
out the living soul, a body without the spirit, a 
shadow without the substance. And the his- 
tory of the Church clearly shows that, wherever 

* “ History of the Religious Movement,” etc., vol. ii, p. 
415, et seq. 


129 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

this doctrine has been ignored, and this expe- 
rience has been unenjoyed, it has degenerated 
into a heartless formalism or into a sickening 
ritualism. Well, then, may the whole Church 
now, in an agony of desire, cry out, 

“ Come, Holy Comforter, 

Thy sacred witness bear 
In this glad hour ! 

Thou who Almighty art 
Now rule in every heart. 

And ne’er from us depart. 

Spirit of power.” 

9 


130 


The Mission of the Spirit . 


CHAPTER X. 

OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE DIRECT 

WITNESS OF THE COMFORTER CONSIDERED. 

A LL important as this doctrine is, and 
clearly as it seems to us the Scriptures 
teach it, yet there have been many objections 
made to it which although they have been often 
answered, are still entertained by many honest 
and sincere persons. 

The first I shall notice is that made by Dr. 
Dwight in his sermon on the “ Evidences of 
Regeneration.”* The objection is that, while 
some have enjoyed this witness, or assurance, 
the experience is by no means a common one. 
He says : “I am fully persuaded that the num- 
ber of these persons [who enjoy this witness] is 
not very great. If the Christians and ministers 
with whom I have had opportunity to converse, 
many of whom have been eminently exemplary in 
their lives, may be allowed to stand as representa- 
tives of Christians in general, it must certainly be 
* Vol. iii, p. 42. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 1 3 1 

true that the faith of assurance is not common.” 
But to this I would reply, There can certainly 
be no reason, so far as the divine provision and 
the divine promise are concerned, why one Chris- 
tian should have this witness and not another. 
All are certainly equally interested in knowing 
whether or not their sins are forgiven them — 
whether they are the children of God or not. 
There is certainly no difference in the provision 
made or in the promise given. The fact that 
the Christians and ministers referred to did not 
enjoy this grace, is no evidence whatever that 
they might not have enjoyed it. If they had 
specifically sought it and believed for it, would 
not they have enjoyed it as well as others ? 
Certainly, or else God is a respecter of persons. 
The Bible gives no intimation whatever of any 
such favoritism in the family of God. I will 
readily admit that many who profess to be 
Christians have not this witness, and that some 
have it much more clearly than others. But I 
repeat that the fact they do not have this assur- 
ance is no argument whatever that they may not 
have it. They are resting short of their birth- 
right and blood-bought privileges because 
their faith neither perceives nor grasps those 


132 The Mission of the Spirit. 

privileges. And others have this witness dimly 
and occasionally, simply because their faith is 
weak, irregular, and staggering. Thus, while 
those who are strong in faith cry, “ Abba, 
Father,” with an “unfaltering tongue,” others 
lisp it with a faltering one. 

The New Testament gives us clearly to under- 
stand that this was the common privilege and ex- 
perience of the Christians of the first century. 
The apostle, writing to the Church at Rome, says : 
“ Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby 
we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth 
witness with our Spirit that we are the children of 
God.” Rom.viii, 15, 16. So he writes to the Corin- 
thians : “ But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, 
but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. vi, 1 1. And 
they certainly must have known it. Also, “ For 
we know that, if our earthly house of this taber- 
nacle were dissolved,” etc. 2 Cor. v, 1. To the 
Galatians he writes, “ Because ye are sons, God 
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. iv, 6. To 
the Ephesians he writes, “ In whom also, after 
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy 
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our 


133 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

inheritance.” Eph. i, 13, 14; also, ii, 1-7. He 
writes to the Colossians, “ Who hath delivered 
us from the power of darkness, and hath trans- 
lated us into the kingdom of his dear Son : in 
whom we have redemption through' his blood, 
even the forgiveness of sins,” etc. Col. i, 
13-22. He says to the Thessalonians, “ Our 
Gospel came not into you in word only, but also 
in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much 
assurance.” 1 Thess. i, 5. “ God hath also 

given unto us his Holy Spirit.” 2 Thess. ii, 
13, 14. Writing to Titus he says, “ Accord- 
ing to his mercy he saved us, by the wash- 
ing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
Holy Ghost ; which he shed on us abundantly 
through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being 
justified by his grace, we should be made heirs 
according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus iii, 
4-7. Peter, writing to “ the strangers scattered ” 
abroad, says, “Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to 
his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto 
a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
from the dead.” 1 Pet. i, 3. The Epistles 
of the beloved John are so full of this truth 
that nearly the whole of them would have to be 


134 7 /k? Mission of the Spirit. 

quoted to notice them all ; but read the follow- 
ing : i John i, 6, 7, 9; iii, I, 2, 14; iv, 16, 
17, etc. If then the early Christians did not 
have this witness, this assurance, the letters of 
the apostles to them must have been an “ un- 
intelligible jargon,” and they must seriously 
have asked one another, “ What does the apostle 
mean ? ” “ We know nothing of what he writes 
to us.” But not so ; what he wrote them was the 
conscious and joyous experience of their souls. 

Dr. Dwight in his Theology admits that “ the 
apostles were evangelically assured of their own 
piety ;” also, that the “first martyrs were the 
subjects of the same faith ;” and that there are, 
in every country and in every age where Chris- 
tianity prevails, some persons who enjoy the 
faith or hope of assurance.” * But I think it 
has been clearly shown that if the apostles 
had this assurance, then the Christians to whom 
they wrote must have had it also. Almost al- 
ways when speaking of this they join themselves 
with the body of believers. “ The Spirit beareth 
witness with our Spirit,” etc. “ We know that 
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis- 
solved, we have a building of God,” etc. “ We 

♦Dwight’s Theology, vol. iii, pp. 41, 42. 


135 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

know that we have passed from death unto 
life.” And if it is true that some persons in 
every age enjoy this assurance, why may not 
all Christians enjoy it ? It is objected, again, 
“ That some persons who have professed to 
enjoy this witness have subsequently backslid- 
den in heart and in life, and thus have brought 
disgrace upon the cause of Christ.” The fact is 
admitted. But it does not at all affect the 
truth of the doctrine. Indeed, if the objection 
proves any thing it proves too much. For 
these persons, while professing to have this 
witness, or assurance, professed also to be 
Christians. Now, then, if their falling into sin 
proves that the doctrine of the witness of the 
Spirit is false, it proves likewise that the Chris- 
tian religion is false. I am aware that those who 
hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith 
have difficulty in reconciling this doctrine of 
assurance with that of the unconditional per- 
severance of the saints. It is well known that 
their idea of assurance amounts to this, that the 
man who has it is not only assured of his pres- 
ent, but also of his eternal salvation. Now 
to have this knowledge, it is feared, would lead 
to carelessness and indifference, and even 


1 3 6 The Mission of the Spirit. 

slothfulness, on the part of Christians. There- 
fore, in order that they may be kept watchful 
and diligent and prayerful, it is necessary that 
this question shall be kept in doubt and uncer- 
tainty. But there is also a difficulty on the 
other side. If a man may not, cannot , know 
that his sins are forgiven him, how can he know 
that he is one of God’s elect ? How can he 
know but that he may ultimately be damned ? 
Very different from this is the Wesleyan doc- 
trine of “ the witness of the Spirit.” That 
teaches us that the believer in Jesus may and 
does know that his sins are now forgiven and 
that he is now a child of God. But it gives 
him no assurance of his final and unconditional 
salvation. On the contrary, he is taught that 
this witness is only to be retained by diligently 
keeping all God’s commandments, and walking 
in the same all the days of his life ; that if he 
is unwatchful, careless, yields to temptation and 
falls into sin, he will lose this divine witness, 
and unless he is restored by penitence and faith 
he will ultimately perish. Again, it is objected 
“ that the testimony of the word of God and the 
witness of our own spirit are all-sufficient.” But 
it is admitted by all that we must be actually 


The Mission of the Spirit. 137 

forgiven, and in the relationship of children of 
God, before we can have the testimony of the 
word or the testimony of our spirit. But if this 
work is accomplished for us it must be through 
the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and by the direct 
agency of the Holy Spirit. If, then, the Holy 
Spirit is present in the soul effecting its regen- 
eration and adoption into the family of God, 
will he not make that soul conscious that it is 
regenerated and adopted into the family of God ? 
Would not this supposition be natural, even if 
there were no direct evidence from the word of 
God confirming this view of the case? This 
view, also, limits the testimony to that of our 
own spirit, whereas the word of God declares 
there are two witnesses — the Spirit of God and 
our own spirit. It is objected again that if 
we have a consciousness of faith joined with 
true repentance we may properly conclude that 
we are forgiven ; in other words, “ I believe ; 
I repent; therefore I am forgiven.” The con- 
clusion is correct, provided that the premises 
are true. Now repentance and faith are simply 
the conditions of salvation and in no sense the 
evidence of it. They also precede the acts of 
pardon and adoption. 


138 The Mission of the Spirit. 

But the question will arise, “ How am I to 
know that I have truly and acceptably repented 
and believed ? I may think that my repent- 
ance and faith are sincere and genuine, and yet 
I may be deceived. But even admitting that 
these acts of mine have been such as God re- 
quires, how am I to know that I am pardoned ? 
Repentance and faith are acts of which my own 
spirit is conscious, but the act of pardon passes 
in the depths of the Divine Mind. How then 
can I know of that act unless God in some way 
reveal it to me ? And if I do ever know it, 
must it not be by a direct revelation from 
heaven ? ” If we must, then, be left to the evi- 
dence of our own spirit as to our having prop- 
erly performed the conditions of salvation, we 
must be left to doubts and fears on the one 
hand, or to presumptuous professions of piety 
on the other. The weak, the timid, the earnest 
and sincere, will doubt whether they have truly 
repented or not, while the bold and presumptu- 
ous will rest satisfied with a very slight and 
superficial work. There is, finally, a “ hack- 
neyed objection,” as Mr. Arthur well calls it,* 
namely, “ That it is presumption for any one to 

* Tongue of Fire, p. 186. 


139 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

say that he is a child of God.” To this he re- 
plies, “ It is never presumption to acknowledge 
what you are. Had David never been taken 
from the sheep-cot and made king it would 
have been presumption in him to say that he 
had ; but when it was the case, he was bound 
in gratitude to own and commemorate the 
mercy showed to him ; so if a man has not been 
delivered from the dominion of sin and adopted 
into the family of God, for him to say that such 
is the case is presumption ; but if he has, then 
not to praise his Redeemer for it would be in- 
gratitude. Saying that it is presumption for any 
07 ie to call himself the child of God takes it for 
granted that no one is, or else it is absurd.” 

In what beautiful and blessed contrast to all 
these objections stands the great and glorious 
Gospel truth as explained and enforced by the 
Wesleyan theology. Here we see that the wit- 
ness of the indwelling spirit is primary, giving 
the deep, heartfelt consciousness to the par- 
doned sinner that his sins are forgiven him, and 
that he is a child of God. Then there naturally 
follows the indwelling of the Spirit, his gracious 
fruits confirming the inward testimony and 
demonstrating the blessed reality. Thus, on 


140 The Mission of the Spirit. 

the one hand, he is not left to grope his way in 
the dark, to guess, to imagine, to infer, to trem- 
blingly hope that he is a child of God, for as he 
is a child he knows it, and rejoices in the 
blessed assurance ; nor, on the other hand, is 
he left to presumption, fanaticism, or folly, for 
the testimony of his own spirit is necessary to 
confirm his inward impression and experience. 
Now he knows that his repentance and faith 
have been accepted for Jesus’ sake, that he has 
been enabled to meet the required conditions 
upon which the blessings of pardon are sus- 
pended, and that God has set his seal of ap- 
proval upon him as his child ; and if ever a 
doubt is injected into his mind as to the reality 
of this work, he can instantly satisfy himself 
by self-examination as to whether or not he has 
the “ fruits of the Spirit” Hence all true be- 
lievers can sing, 

“ His Spirit, which he gave, 

Now dwells in us, we know ; 

The witness in ourselves we have, 

And all its fruits we show. 

Our nature’s turned, our mind 
Transformed in all its powers ; 

And both the witnesses are joined , 

Thy Spirit , Lord , with ours.” — C. WESLEY. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


141 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE COMFORTER AS THE SEALER OF GODS 
SAINTS, AND AS THE EARNEST IN THEIR 
HEARTS. 

T 3 ELIEVERS not only have the witness of 
the Spirit as to their forgiveness and 
adoption, but they are also sealed by the Spirit 
as the peculiar treasure, as the people, of God. 
This work is frequently referred to in the New 
Testament. Hence the apostle, writing to the 
Ephesians, says, “ In whom ye (Gentiles) also 
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, 
the Gospel of your salvation : in whom also, 
after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that 
Ploly Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of 
our inheritance until the redemption of the pur- 
chased possession.” Eph. i, 13, 14. Also to 
the Corinthians he says, “ Now he which stab- 
lisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed 
us, is God ; who hath also sealed us, and given 
the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” 1 Cor. 
i, 21, 22. Again, he exhorts the Ephesians, 


142 The Mission of the Spirit. 

“ Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby 
ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 
iv, 30. God’s people, then, are a sealed people — 
“ sealed in their foreheads ” so conspicuously 
that they are known of him and known of a 
godless world. Hence the apostle writes to 
Timothy, “ Nevertheless the foundation of God 
standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord know- 
eth them that are his.” 2 Tim. ii, 19. 

The seal has been in use from a very remote 
antiquity. We read of its use far back in the 
patriarchal times. (Gen. xxxviii, 18.) It is the 
instrument by which letters and other writings 
are stamped and ratified as evidence of their 
authenticity. This instrument is used by kings, 
states, corporate bodies, and individuals. It is 
not only used upon writings, but also stamped 
upon articles of value, and at the present day is 
employed largely in commerce and trade. The 
design of its use is to signify that the writings 
are authentic, actually given by the person or 
corporation or state which employs it, no other 
person or parties having a right to use it, and 
thus all fraud is prevented. It is also used to 
confirm or ratify an agreement or covenant. 
Again, it is used to mark as one’s own prop- 


43 


The Mission of the Spirit. i 

erty, and to make secure that which is thus 
marked. The process itself is simple. The 
instrument with some letter or device or image 
is stamped upon a piece of wax, of lead, or of 
heated iron, or upon a wafer or mucilaged 
stamp, and thus the exact impress of the seal is 
made upon the writing or the article stamped. 
The whole process is beautifully applied and 
illustrated by Cruden.* 

Now believers are said to be thus sealed by 
the Spirit of God, and this denotes that “ they 
are the ascertained property of God, for this is 
the idea conveyed by the affixing of a seal. 
He has received them, he claims them, he 
gives his attestation to the fact that they are 
his. It cannot, either to themselves or to any 
considerate observer, be any longer doubtful 
among what description of persons they are to 
be classed, nor to whom they belong.” f 

This sealing is by no means an evidence of 
final and unconditional salvation. It marks 
and secures the one who is now a child of God 
as his property. But if the Spirit is grieved by 
our sins or our slothfulness, the impress of this 

* Cruden’s Concordance, under “ Seal.” 
f Walton on Witness of the Spirit, p. 51. 


144 7 he Mission of the Spirit . 

seal may be effaced from the soul. This seal- 
ing needs to be frequently renewed, for it is by 
no means true that once sealed we are always 
sealed. It is only while the Comforter abides 
in the soul that the sealing is kept clear and 
uneffaced ; but if he depart from us, then the 
seal will also be removed. Thus God speaks 
of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, 
that though he “ were the signet upon his right 
hand, yet would he pluck him thence.” Jer. xxii, 
24. Hence, although, as we have seen, the 
Ephesians were sealed, yet it was not a full nor 
an abiding earnest of heaven to them. It was 
a real earnest while they took care not to 
“ grieve the Holy Spirit of God, whereby they 
were sealed.” And that their first sealing did 
not confirm their souls long is but too evident 
from the Saviours message from Patmos, 
charging them with having “ left their first 
love,” and threatening to remove their “ candle- 
stick out of its place” unless they repented. 

These facts show the absurdity of all theories 
of sealing which make the seal final or indeli- 
ble. His seal, like every other part of his work, 
has to be renewed from time to time. Like his 
witness, it is not abiding any longer than we 


45 


The Mission of the Spirit . i 

keep from grieving him. The Holy Spirit soon 
unseals every one who makes a bad use of his 
comforts. “ And in unsealing the inconsistent 
and slothful, he evinces as much love as when 
he seals most fully the diligent and devotional.” * 
This indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the be- 
liever, witnessing and sealing, is the earnest of 
his heavenly inheritance ; hence, as already 
quoted, “Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit 
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheri- 
tance.” Eph. i, 13, 14. So the apostle says to the 
Corinthians, “ Now he that hath wrought us for 
the self-same thing is God, who also hath given 
unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” 2 Cor. v, 5. 
The sealing of the Spirit and the earnest of the 
Spirit are distinct from each other, and yet al- 
ways co-exist. The word earnest is from the 
Hebrew, and signifies a pledge-earnest, 

a mercantile term which the Greeks and Ro- 
mans appear to have adopted from the Pheni- 
cians as the founders of commerce.” f In the 
Greek it is appapcov, and in the Latin arrabo . 
Thus it appears that the word was not trans- 
lated by the Greeks and Latins, but merely 

* Philip, “ Love of the Spirit,” pp. 135-137- 
f Gesenius, Hebrew Lexicon in loco. 

IP 


146 The Mission of the Spirit. 

transferred. This word signifies, according to 
Webster, “A part paid or delivered beforehand, 
as money or goods under a contract, as a pledge 
and security for the whole. Thus earnest, or 
earnest-money, is a first payment or deposit, 
giving promise or assurance of a full payment, 
and serving also to bind the seller to the terms 
of agreement.” * It signifies also the first-fruits 
which give the promise of the harvest to come. 
There are two things, then, especially, which 
the Spirit thus furnishes to the believer : first, 
a pledge of his inheritance ; and, secondly, a 
foretaste of its bliss. The Spirit’s witness to 
our sonship gives us a title to heaven, his seal- 
ing confirms our sonship and heirship, for “if 
children, then heirs and thus, long as we 
have the witness and the seal of the Spirit, we 
have the pledge of heaven. The child of God, 
justified and sealed, is not at once taken to 
heaven. He is left here to struggle against 
hosts of foes, to battle with adverse influences, 
and to travel, often a weary road, to his 
heavenly home. But, stranger and pilgrim 
though he be, unknown to, or even persecuted 
by, the world, often poor and despised, yet in 

* Webster in loco. 


147 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

the depths of his soul he has a title,’ a pledge to 
a mansion, a crown, a harp, a throne. He is 
not in heaven, but he has the pledge of heaven 
in his soul. That pledge is given to him, and 
the inheritance is sure upon one simple condi- 
tion : “ Be thou faithful unto death!' With this 
condition fulfilled, or while fulfilling it, he is as 
sure of heaven as if he were now by the throne 
of God. And this was not only a pledge to the 
early members of the Christian Church, but it 
is a pledge to the whole body of believers “ un- 
til the redemption of the purchased possession,” 
until all the saints are gathered home. 

But not only is this earnest of the Spirit in 
the soul as a pledge , it is there also as a fore- 
taste. Just as the first-fruits were a foretaste of 
the harvest, and a part of the harvest, so the 
Spirit is a foretaste of heaven — it is “ heaven be- 
gun below.” It is, indeed, only a small part of 
the inheritance, a slight foretaste, but yet it is 
a part, a prelibation of what is to come. The 
first-fruits of the Jewish harvest might have 
been carried in the hands, or in a small basket 
or bag, while the full harvest itself filled the 
largest granaries and barns ; so a few dollars 
may secure as well as foreshadow the payment 


148 The Mission of the Spirit. 

of thousands, or even of millions, and the pos- 
session of that for which they are paid. Our 
poor hearts here can hold but little of heaven 
even when filled to the utmost, but that little 
is sweet beyond expression. It is the joy of 
the glorified ; it is the joy of the angels ; 
more than this, it is “ the joy of the Lord 
it is “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 
And did we live nearer to God, how much more 
of this earnest might we enjoy even here ! If 
the film of worldliness were removed from our 
eyes, if the mists and shadows which envelop 
our spirits were only rifted, if our faith were 
more vigorous and clear-visioned, how would 
the glory break over our souls ! how would the 
joys divine well up in our hearts ! how thin 
would be the vail which separates us from that 
heavenly world ! We permit ourselves to be 
robbed of much of heaven’s joys by our worldly 
spirit, our sloth, our indifference, and our un- 
belief. Well does Rutherford say in one of his 
letters, “ I dare avouch the saints know not the 
length and largeness of the sweet earnest, and 
of the sweet green sheaves before the harvest, 
that might be had on this side of the water if 
we would only take the pains.” And again, 


149 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

“ It is our folly to postpone all till the term- 
day, seeing abundance of earnest will not di- 
minish any thing from the principal sum.” * 

As the first-fruits of the harvest revealed to 
the Jew the character and abundance of the 
coming harvest, so the joy in the Holy Ghost 
which the saint has in his heart here tells him 
of the full and endless joys of heaven. “ That is 
the fullness, this is the taste.” That is the ocean, 
this is the drop. That is the endless fruition, 
this is only the beginning — only the day-dawn. 
But O, if the drops are so sweet, what will the 
ocean be ? O, if the taste is so ravishing, what 
will the fullness be ? A recent writer has well 
said, “ Heaven is only the maturer, brighter, 
fuller development of that state which has begun 
in the individual heart. Joys here are like a 
few flowers retaining their Eden fragrance that 
the spirit may long for the climes where they 
bloom perpetually. They are a few notes of 
heavenly harpers, that the soul may be led to 
desire to join in the eternal jubilee. They are 
glimpses of glory in which the soul may see 
those hours which, like the hours on the sun- 
dial, are measured only by sunshine, and 

° Rutherford’s Letters. 


150 The Mission of the Spirit. 

of which, through eternity, there will be no 
end”* 

Thus the sealed believer has both the pledge 
and the foretaste of heaven, until he enters upon 
his everlasting inheritance, and partakes, at the 
fountain-head, of its everlasting joys. 

“ I would not wait for heaven ; 

Heaven may begin below ; 

To every newborn soul ’tis given 
A present God to know.” 

* Cumming’s “ Voices of the Night,” p. 50. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


I5i 


CHAPTER XII. 

THE COMFORTER AS OUR INTERCESSOR. 

‘ T IKEWISE the Spirit also helpeth our 
infirmities : for we know not what we 
should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit 
maketh intercession for us with groanings which 
cannot be uttered.” Rom. viii, 26. The question 
at once arises here, “ In what sense does the 
Comforter make intercession for us ? ” To this 
I would answer, His intercession is entirely dif- 
ferent from that which Christ, as our great High 
Priest, makes for us. His intercession is based 
upon his own merits ; the Comforter’s interces- 
sion is occasioned by our weakness. Christ’s 
intercession is before the throne ; the Spirit 
makes intercession within our hearts. Christ 
intercedes for us as our Advocate ; the Spirit 
as an enlightener and helper in our petitions. 
The intercession of Christ for us is uncon- 
ditional ; that of the Comforter is conditioned 
upon our willingness and desire to come to God. 

1. First, then, his office is to help ns to pray. 


1 5 2 The Mission of the Spirit. 

When man is made conscious of his sinfulness, 
he is at the same time made conscious of his 
helplessness. His first thoughts are, “ I cannot 
pray “I do not know how to pray “ How 
dare such a sinful worm as I am approach unto 
God ? ” With these reflections his whole soul 
shrinks from an interview with a holy God. , 
Like the Publican, he stands afar off, not daring 
to lift up his eyes to heaven, the dwelling-place 
of infinite purity ; but, smiting upon his agonized 
breast, he cries out, “ God be merciful to me a 
sinner ! ” 

There are also many periods in the history 
of the child of God when, assaulted by the pow- 
ers of darkness, or overwhelmed with trials, or 
crushed by the bereaving stroke, or sunk into 
the lowest depths of humiliation by a sense of 
his vileness and unworthiness, he feels that he 
cannot pray. It is then that the Comforter 
comes in with his divine help. The timid, 
shrinking heart is now encouraged by his 
presence and his aid, and emboldened to speak 
but its wants, or at least to groan out its desires. 
Thus the worm is enabled to speak unto God, 
and dust and ashes talk to “ the Great, the 
Holy, and the High.” 


153 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

“ The word translated ‘ helpeth ’ signifies to 
lay hold of any thing, as of a beam or burden, 
together with another. In ourselves we know 
not what to pray for or how to pray. But the 
Holy Spirit of God which dwelleth in us, knowing 
our wants better than we, himself pleads in our 
prayers, raising us to higher and holier desires 
than we can express in words, which can only 
find utterance in sighs and aspirations. But 
although these yearnings are inexpressible in 
words, the Searcher of hearts recognizes in 
them what is the minding of the Spirit, because 
these inarticulate pleadings of the Holy Ghost, 
in and for his saints, are in perfect unison with 
his own mind, (tcard Oeov ;) they are God-like.”* 

2. The Comforter by his divine illumination 
makes us conscious of our condition and our 
wants , so far, at least, as we can bear to see 
them. We know not ourselves, our actual con- 
dition, nor the deep and alarming necessities 
of our being. Nor could we probably bear to 
see ourselves as we are seen by the eye of in- 
finite purity. It is natural for us to put the 
most favorable construction upon every thing 
appertaining to our character and condition. 

* The Spirit of Life, pp. 154, 155. 


154 The Mission of the Spirit. 

We are all inclined to lay the flattering unction 
to our souls that all is well ; to cry “ Peace ! 
peace ! ” when God has not spoken peace. Nor 
does the true Christian always realize his con- 
dition, his privileges, and the glorious possibili- 
ties of his being. Hence the Holy Spirit shines 
in upon the darkness of the mind, reveals our 
condition, creates the sense of want, inspires 
the soul with earnest longings, produces “ hun- 
gerings and thirstings after righteousness,” and 
thus leads us up to God. It is in view of this 
that we read of Christians “praying in the Holy 
Ghost,” of their “ making supplication in the 
Spirit.” Jude xx ; Eph. vi, 19. 

3. Here, then, we see the source of those un- 
utterable groanings which the true penitent and 
the true Christian often experience. They are 
not natural to man. They do not arise spon- 
taneously in the human soul. They are begot- 
ten by the Holy Ghost. They are the results 
of his mighty operations. They occur in great 
crises of our history and experience. It is in 
the midst of them that the soul rises up to 
meet God, to take hold upon his Omnipotence, 
to test the power of the cleansing blood of 
Calvary, and to enter upon the higher walks of 


155 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

the Christian life. And yet, in its enlarged 
desires, in its crushing burden of wants, it can 
find no language in which to express its strug- 
gling emotions. Prostrate in the dust at the 
foot of the throne, the lips are dumb, the words 
are lost, or fail to utter what now is so deeply 
felt, and naught but groans and sighs escape 
the breast of the burdened and troubled one. 
So Moses groaned in spirit before God when 
he said, “ Oh, this people have sinned a great 
sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet 
now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not, 
blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou 
hast written.” Exod. xxxii, 31, 32. So Han- 
nah prayed : “ She spake in her heart ; only her 
lips moved, but her voice was not heard,” etc. 
1 Sam. i, 13-16. The secret of all this was 
she was a “ woman of a sorrowful spirit and 
“ out of the abundance of her complaint and 
grief” she had spoken unto God. So Hezekiah 
prayed when his life was in danger : “ Like a 
crane or a swallow, so did I chatter : I did 
mourn as a dove : mine eyes fail with looking 
upward : O Lord, I am oppressed ; undertake 
for me.” Isa. xxxviii, 14. 

On this passage Tholuck thus speaks : “ That 


156 The Mission of the Spirit . 

in those moments when the soul turns with 
deepest ardor to its original, it is not that which 
is human in man, that rises Godward, but the 
Divine Spirit in the human breast which seeks 
to meet God, the profound thinkers of every 
clime have been aware.” He instances the 
following from the Methnewi of Dschelaleddin, 
(Cod. M.S., Bibl. Reg., Ber. T. Ill, p. 146,) where 
the writer thus sings of a Mohammedan saint : 

“ O never think a prayer like this like other prayer ; for know. 
It is not mortal man, but God, from whom the accents flow. 
Behold, God prays! the lowly saint stands deep abased the 
while. 

And God who gave the humbled mind upon his prayers will 
smile.” 

Also, on page 13 of the same work he sings : 

“ ‘Allah! ’ was all night long the cry of one oppressed with 
care, 

Till softened was his heart, and sweet became his lips with 
prayer. 

Then near the subtle tempter stole, and spake, ‘Fond bab- 
bler, cease !’ 

For not one Here am I has God ere sent to give thee 
peace! ’ 

With sorrow sank the suppliant’s heart, and all his senses 
fled, 

But, lo ! at midnight, Chiser * came, and gently spake and 
said, 


♦Name of Elias, whom the Easterns describe as Counselor 
of Men. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 157 

* What ails thee now, my child, and whence art thou afraid to 
pray, 

And why thy former love dost thou repent ? declare, and 
say! ’ 

‘Ah!’ cries he, ‘Never once to me spoke God, Here am /, 
Son.' 

Cast off methinks I am, and warned far from his gracious 
throne.’ 

To whom Elias, * Hear, my son, the word from God I bear. 

“Go tell,” he said, “yon moux-ner sunk in sorrow and 
despair. 

Each Lord appear , thy lips pronounce contains my — 
Here am I. 

A special messenger I send beneath thine every sigh. 

Thy love is but a girdle of the love I bear to thee, 

And sleeping in thy Come , O Lord , there lies, Here , Son, 
from me.” * 


4. In such intercession there is frequently an 
assurance accompanying, or immediately fol- 
lowing it, that the prayer is heard. The experi- 
ence of God’s saints, in recorded instances not 
a few, clearly demonstrates the truthfulness of 
this statement. After a period of intense long- 
ing, of unutterable groanings of soul, either for 
themselves, or for others, suddenly, but with 
fullest assurance, there is realized the faith that 
the prayer is heard, that the answer is granted. 
So when John Knox prayed, “Give me Scot- 
land, or I die,” he rose up from his knees assured 


* Tholuck on Romans, pp. 269, 270. 


158 The Mission of the Spirit. 

that his prayer had prevailed with God. This 
is remarkably illustrated in the case of the 
brother of Melville Cox, the heroic Missionary 
to Africa. 

“ The following are the facts : they occurred 
when Mr. Cox was about twenty years of age. 
At the time of this singular incident his brother 
James, who, it will be seen, was concerned in 
the affair, was at sea, being master of the brig 
i Charles Faucet/ which was then on her passage 
to New Orleans. This young gentleman, al- 
though well fitted for his business in every 
other respect, and irreproachable in his conduct 
among men, was destitute of religion. 

“ From the hour that James sailed for New 
Orleans, Melville, with another brother of his, 
and who was alike partner in his * precious faith/ 
made the absent brother a constant subject of 
prayer. Such, indeed, were their feelings for 
James, and so absorbing to them was the great 
question of his soul’s salvation, that it became 
for a few weeks with them their first and last 
thoughts for the day. 

“ One evening, just as the sun had fallen, the 
two brothers, as they were sometimes wont to 
do, visited the edge of the woods back of the 


159 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

village where they then resided, and there 
knelt down to pray. The first object of interest 
before them was their absent brother, whose 
image came up to their view with more than 
ordinary distinctness, and who, it seemed to 
them, was not only far away on the sea, tossed 
upon its waves as the spirit of the storm might 
drive him, but ‘ without hope, without God in 
the world,’ and liable to fall into the gulf of woe. 
As they prayed, their own spirits seemed in 
agony for James, and they poured out their 
feelings in alternate offerings, with a depth of 
sympathy, of religious fervor, of faith in God, 
never before experienced by them for him. It 
was given to them to wrestle with God in prayer, 
and to importune as for their own souls. And 
thus they did, unconscious of the nightly dews 
that were falling upon them, until the conflict 
seemed past, and the blessing they sought 
gained. They both rose from prayer, and, with- 
out exchanging a word upon the subject of 
their feelings, went to their different homes for 
the night. 

“ The next morning the brothers met ; but 
the feelings of the past night were yet too vivid 
to be dissipated. Said Melville to the younger, 


160 The Mission of the Spirit. 

‘ What did you think of our feelings last night ?’ 

‘ I think,’ said the younger brother, ‘James has 
experienced religion.’ ‘ Well, I think,’ said 
Melville, ‘ that he is dead ; and I have put it 
down in my diary, and you will see if it is not 
true.’ A few weeks passed away, and tidings 
came that James was dead ! He died within a 
few days’ sail of the Balize, in the evening, and, 
as the brothers supposed, by a comparison of 
the letter they received with Melville’s diary, 
071 the same hour in which they were engaged in 
prayer for his soul. 

“ The above letter contained no reference to 
his religious feelings, so that the correctness of 
the younger brother’s impressions was yet to be 
determined. On the return of the brig, how- 
ever, it was ascertained by conversation with 
the mate that the feelings of both were equally 
true. It appeared from the mate’s testimony 
and other circumstances, that immediately after 
his sailing James became serious , abandoned 
profaneness, to which he had been accustomed 
for years, and forbade the indulgence of this 
profitless and degrading crime on board his ves- 
sel, and this seriousness continued to the hour 
of his death. He communicated his thoughts, 


The Mission of the Spirit. 161 

however, to no one, excepting to his friends, 
upon paper, which they received after his death. 
Yet it does not appear from any of these cir- 
cumstances that he found peace to his mind, 
unless it were in his last hour. 

“ On the morning of the day on which he 
died he said to his mate he thought he should 
die that day, and accordingly made what 
arrangements he could for such an event. He 
gave some directions about the vessel, and re- 
quested a lock of hair to be cut from his head, 
which, with a ring that he took from his finger, 
was handed to his friends. He then gave him- 
self up to his fate. In the evening the mate 
went below ; and, seeing quite a change had 
taken place in his appearance, and that death 
was rapidly approaching, he took his hand and 
thus addressed him : ‘ Captain Cox, you are a 

very sick man.’ * Yes, I know it,’ was calmly, 
though feebly, articulated. ‘ You are dying,’ 
continued the mate. ‘ Yes, I know it/ he again 
whispered. * And are you willing?’ ‘Yes, 
blessed ’ — and burst into a flood of tears and 
expired.” 

The conviction, simultaneously impressed upon 

the minds of these brothers, that their prayer 
11 


1 62 The Mission of the Spirit. 

was heard, was doubtless produced by the Holy 
Ghost. The impression regarding the death of 
their brother is a psychological fact, well de- 
serving the consideration of the philosopher. 

But time would fail to tell of all the instances 
on record ; while every earnest saint in all the 
ages has known the truth of this — although 
this fact in his experience may have been known 
only to himself and his God. The answer is 
in the prayer. The same Spirit which creates 
the desire and produces the groanings of soul 
is present with the answer. The desire has 
come from God — it is in accordance with the 
will of God ; the answer is sure. 

My prayer hath power with God ; the grace 
Unspeakable I now receive ; 

Through faith I see thee face to face j 
I see thee face to face and live! 

In vain I have not wept and strove ; 

Thy nature and thy name is Love.— C. Wesley. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


163 


CHAPTER XIII. 


THE COMFORTER AS A LEADER AND GUIDE. 



S many as are led by the Spirit of God, 


^ they are the sons of God.” But what is 
it to be led by the Spirit of God ? It will read- 
ily be seen that a right answer to this question 
is of the greatest importance. An error here 
may lead the mind very far astray, either into 
the vagaries of mysticism on the one hand, or 
the delusions of fanaticism on the other. There 
have been persons at various periods in the his- 
tory of the Church who have imagined that 
they were, and declared themselves to be, under 
the guidance of the Spirit ; and yet they have 
been guilty in some instances of the most fanat- 
ical conduct, and in others, of the most abom- 
inable excesses. I would inquire, then, Is it pos- 
sible for us to know when we are led by the Spirit 
of God ? Can his guidance be distinguished 
from the actings of our own minds, or the decis- 
ions and determinations of our own wills ? Or, 
on the other hand, are all who profess to be led by 


164 The Mission of the Spirit. 

the Spirit fanatics and deceivers ? One thing is 
settled for us right here, and that is, that the sons, 
or children of God, are led by the Spirit. Then, 
again, the Saviour expressly promised to his 
disciples that the Comforter should “ guide them 
into all truth.” John xvi, 13. 

But the word of God names several conditions 
the existence of which is essential to the enjoy- 
ment of this leading and guidance. And, first 
of all, it is only those who are sons of God who 
are thus led. This implies that they have re- 
pented of their sins, have believed on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and have experienced his justifying 
and renewing grace. It involves, also, the fur- 
ther fact that there is a complete submission of 
the soul to the dictates and control of the Divine 
Spirit. In other words, if the Holy Spirit actu- 
ally leads a man, he must be willing to be led 
just in the way he would have him go. It would, 
indeed, be a great comfort to many persons if 
they could convince themselves and others that 
the way in which they go, and the actions which 
they perform, are from the promptings and 
leadings of the Holy Ghost : if, in other words, 
they could practice the most gross immoralities, 
the most impure conduct which their base hearts 


i6$ 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

or their corrupt passions incline them to, and 
yet throw the responsibility upon the Holy 
Ghost. Some have ventured so far as to do 
these very things. Their blasphemy is of the 
most fearful character, for they are ascribing the 
works of the devil to the Spirit of God, and thus 
are bringing upon themselves the terrible judg- 
ments of heaven. The word of God gives us clear- 
ly to understand that no person who performs 
an unholy or impure action can possibly be led 
to do this by the Holy Ghost. The infinite 
purity and holiness of his character render such 
a thing infinitely impossible. But, on the other 
hand, he can only lead a person to do that which 
is right and just and true and good. If any 
man’s conduct varies from these principles, no 
matter what his professions or pretensions may 
be as to his being led by the Spirit of God, “ he 
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” There 
are but two spirits in the world which lead and 
control men’s minds — the Spirit of light and the 
spirit of darkness ; the Spirit of truth and the 
spirit of error ; the Spirit of God and the spirit 
of the devil. These are in direct and eternal an- 
tagonism. They can never coalesce, or co-exist. 
Satan, it is true, may appear as an “ angel of 


1 66 The Mission of the Spirit . 

light,” but he is no less a devil under this garb 
than in his own thunder-scarred deformity, Error 
may put on the garb of truth, but it is error still. 
When, therefore, the Spirit of God leads a man, 
he leads him to do right, to do good, to believe 
the truth and embrace it. The promise is em- 
phatic, “ He shall guide you into all the truth,” 
not into error, not into folly, not into sin. 

The question may arise here, “ How am I to 
know what is truth ? ” “ The theological world,” 
it may be said, “ is a Babel of confused opinions 
and theories ; science seems to be opposed to 
some of the teachings of the Bible, and the 
wisest and the best men differ widely upon some 
important passages of Scripture ; how, in the 
midst of all this confusion, am I to perceive the 
truth ? ” Let me say right here that the Bible 
does not profess or aim to teach philosophy or 
science. It does not attempt to formulate any 
system of astronomy, geology, chemistry, or geog- 
nosy. But it does profess to teach man about God, 
his character and relations to his creatures ; about 
man, his origin, his character, his fall, his redemp- 
tion by Christ, and his destiny. Its allusions to 
those questions which belong to philosophical 
or scientific investigation, as we have already 


1 67 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

seen, are made in the language of the existing 
ideas and knowledge of the people among whom 
its truths were primarily uttered, and are merely 
occasional and incidental. But upon the great 
questions on which it does profess to give man 
light and knowledge it speaks out clearly and 
unmistakably. “ The wayfaring men, although 
fools, shall not err therein.” Isa. xxxv, 8. “ To 

us at this day this word has come, and to us at 
this day the anointing from the Holy One flows 
down. For you, for me, (thank God !) the teach- 
ing of the Spirit remains. It remains for the 
servants and the handmaids, and many an ob- 
scure and lowly brother in the streets around 
us can say for himself, as truly as St. Paul could 
say, * I have received the Spirit that is of God, 
that I may know the things which are freely given 
me of God.’ But one who thus speaks can know 
that his convictions are really the teaching of 
the Spirit of God only so far as they correspond 
with the eternal types of truth, which ascertain 
to us what the teaching of the Spirit is. Now, 
as in the apostolic days, he which is spiritual can 
show that he is so only ‘ by acknowledging that 
the things which ’ these appointed teachers 
‘ wrote to us are commandments of the Lord ; * 


1 68 The Mission of the Spirit . 

for the gift of the Holy Ghost to others is not 
a gift whereby they originate the knowledge of 
new truths, but a gift whereby they recognize 
and apprehend the old unchanging mystery, still 
receiving afresh the one revelation of Christ, 
ever approaching, never surpassing the compre- 
hensive but immovable boundaries of the faith 
once delivered to the saints. This is the gift 
which makes the written word a living word, 
which fills a Church with joy, and seals a soul for 
glory.” * 

Again, The Spirit of God never leads a man 
to believe any thing contrary to the word of God, 
or to do any thing contrary to its teachings. It 
is right here that we have an all-sufficient check 
against error and fanaticism. If any person 
thinks or feels that he is led by the Spirit of God, 
he is to test his impressions by the truths of God’s 
word. If the convictions, impressions, or incli- 
nations of his mind and heart are in accordance 
with the eternal truths of that word, then he 
may safely follow them, and properly conclude 
that the Spirit of the Lord is leading and guid- 
ing him aright. But if they are not in harmony 
with the word, then the sooner he gets rid of 

* Bernard’s Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 169 

them the better it will be for himself and for all 
concerned ; for it is not the Spirit of God, but 
the spirit of “ that wicked one ” which is endeav- 
oring to lead him astray. There are those who 
profess to be entirely governed by their impres- 
sions, and who ascribe all those impressions to 
the Holy Spirit. Such governance will com- 
monly lead those astray who follow it. Nothing 
is more variable and uncertain than our feelings 
and impressions. We are creatures subject to a 
thousand influences both from within and with- 
out. Some of our impressions are healthy and 
right, others are morbid and wrong. Some are 
from a sound normal condition of our physical 
system, and others from its deranged and disor- 
dered conditions. Some are from the world with- 
out us, and some are from the world within us. 
Some are from the Spirit of God, and some are 
from the devil. Now, then, we are commanded 
not to believe every spirit, but to try the spirits 
whether they are of God. (1 John iv, 1.) 

We are to try our impressions by the word of 
God, according to its eternal principles of truth 
and right. And just here comes in that right, 
aye, that duty , of private judgment in reading 
and endeavoring to understand the word of God. 


170 The Mission of the Spirit. 

God has given to his intelligent creatures pow- 
ers of reason, of judgment, of understanding, 
of analysis and synthesis. These are to be 
brought into exercise in reading the word of 
God, in humble reliance upon the promised aid 
of the Divine Spirit. Given, then, the word of 
God in our hands, the Spirit of God in our 
hearts, and our God-given reason duly enthroned 
in our minds, and no man need to, or will, go 
far astray. But any one who relies upon mere 
impressions will go astray into the wildest fan- 
cies, or the grossest irregularities, or the most 
mortifying blunders. Some very good, although 
at the time very mistaking, people, have done 
very singular, and even very ludicrous, things 
in following out their mere impressions. And 
there can be no doubt that God has permitted 
them to be thus humbled in order to save them 
from greater errors and mistakes. The well- 
known instance in the life of Dr. Nathan Bangs 
is here in point. “ At a certain time when he 
was laboring in Canada, when the weather was 
very cold and the snow deep, as he was riding 
along the road he came opposite a dwelling that 
stood quite a distance from the road in the field. 
Instantly he was impressed to go to the house 


The Mission of the Spirit. 1 7 1 

and talk and pray with its family. He could 
see no path through the deep snow, and he felt 
reluctant to wade that distance. He resolved 
not to go. No sooner had he passed the house 
than the impression became doubly strong, and 
he was constrained to turn back. He fastened 
his horse to the fence, waded through the snow 
to the house, and not a soul was there. From 
that time he resolved never to confide in mere 
impressions .” * 

But all this, while it guards, does not militate 
against the doctrine of the guidance of the Spirit 
as taught so clearly in the word of God. In 
every dispensation of God’s mercy and grace 
toward our world this great truth has been 
taught, and this experience has been realized. 
Enoch, in his three-century walk with God; 
Abraham, leaving Ur of the Chaldees, and going 
out under the Divine guidance, not knowing 
whither he went, but following that guidance 
toward Canaan, and “ the city which hath foun- 
dations.” The royal Psalmist very frequently 
in his rapt and sublime utterances refers to 
this truth, and dwells upon it with holy rapture : 
“ This God is our God for ever and ever : he will 

* Life and Times of Nathan Bangs, D; D., p. ioi. 


172 The Mission of the Spirit. 

be our guide eve . n unto death.” Psa. xlviii, 14. 
“ The meek will he guide in judgment : and the 
meek will he teach his way.” Psa. xxv, 9. “ Thou 
shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward 
receive me to glory.” Psa. lxxiii, 24. “ The steps 
of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Psa. 
xxxvii, 23. “ Teach me to do thy will ; . . . thy 

Spirit is good ; lead me into the land of upright- 
ness.” Psa. cxliii, 10. The apostle John, writing 
to his brethren, says, “ But ye have an unction 
from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” 
1 John ii, 20. “But the anointing which ye 
have received of him abideth in you, and ye 
need not that any man teach you : but as the 
same anointing teacheth you of all things, and 
is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught 
you, ye shall abide in him.” 1 John ii, 27. 

All these Scriptures thus clearly teach a divine 
leadership, a divine guidance. Yes, poor, feeble, 
erring man may be led by the Spirit of God into 
all truth and righteousness ; may be led through 
all the wildering mazes of this world up to the 
gates of pearl and the fadeless mansions. And 
O, if we oftener sought his guidance, if our 
hearts were only more willing to follow where 
he would lead, how many errors, straits, diffi- 


The Mission of the Spirit. 173 

culties, and troubles we might avoid, and how 
would we be led by the side of the still waters, 
up to the lofty altitudes of communion with God, 
down into the hallowed depths of love divine, 
and into the immeasurable riches of divine 
grace ! But we so often want our own will and 
our own way ; and when the Spirit would lead 
us we shrink back, or refuse to follow, because 
the way looks to us rough and thorny, or a cross 
lies directly in the path. We too seldom think 
that the way of the cross is the way to the 
crown, and that the rough and thorny path 
leads upward to the golden streets. If we fail 
to follow where the Spirit leads we are losers 
always — losers in every way. 

I cannot, however, leave this subject without 
noticing that this blessed fact of a Divine 
Leader and Guide is not only one of the deepest 
interest and importance, but, also, of the greatest 
satisfaction and comfort. Full well do we know 
that where he leads there it is not only safe for 
us to follow, but it is best for us to go. Some- 
times the way may be one of difficulty, sorrow, 
and trial. We may shrink, at first, from enter- 
ing upon it. But if we will only follow where 
our Lord doth lead all will be well. Jesus, the 


1 74 The Mission of the Spirit. 

divine Jesus, “was led up of the Spirit into the 
wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” Matt, iv, I. 
Fierce, determined, persistent were Satan’s at- 
tacks ; but when the struggle was over “ angels 
came and ministered unto him.” Matt, iv, 1 1. So 
will it ever be with us. In the wilderness of life 
the Spirit may lead us to scenes of fierce tempta- 
tion, as he led our Lord ; but the conflict ended, 
the victory ours, angel pinions will fan our heated 
brows, and angel hands will minister to our 
comfort. Again, while the Church at Antioch 
with its “prophets and teachers,” “ministered 
to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work 
whereunto I have called them.” Acts xiii, 2. 
Obedient to the Divine direction, they departed 
on a long journey, involving dangers and perils 
and persecutions innumerable. But they re- 
turned with a song of triumph in their hearts 
and on their lips : “Now thanks be unto God, 
which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, 
and maketh manifest the savor of his knowl- 
edge by us in every place.” 2 Cor. ii, 14. These 
instances will suffice to show that, however diffi- 
cult or dangerous the way may be in which we 
are led, the result will be, if we follow the Divine 


175 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

guidance, peace, comfort, and joy. But some- 
times, O how often ! he will “ lead us by the still 
waters, and make us to lie down in the green 
pastures,” where Eden flowers bloom and shed 
their fragrance all around, where the skies are 
bright and cloudless, and all the air is burdened 
with celestial melodies. 

But let me say, further, however rough, or 
thorny, or dark, the way may be at times over 
which the Spirit leads us, yet if we are assured 
that it is his hand which is guiding our steps, 
we may walk on with the utmost confidence and 
joy. What though the billows of some Red 
Sea may roll darkly before our eyes, and seem 
to forbid our advance even when the voice of 
God bids us “ go forward ! ” If we will only 
obey the Divine command, those dark billows 
will be rolled up into walls of adamant ; “ the 
depths will be congealed in the heart of the sea,” 
and the slimy paths of the monsters of the deep 
will be reared into a highway, over which we 
shall pass to sing songs of victory on the shore 
that lies nearest to Canaan. Or, if we are led 
into a den which has quivered and shaken with 
the thundering roar of hungry lions eager for 
their prey that den will be a downy couch, 


176 The Missio?i of the Spirit. 

prepared by angel hands after they shall have 
locked the lions jaws ; and through the livelong 
night their wings will canopy our heads, and 
their gleaming spear-heads will defend us from 
harm. Mayhap we shall be led into some seven- 
times heated furnace of affliction in obeying his 
divine command. But even then the fire-flame 
will become as harmless as a gilded drapery, 
while, inconsumable as asbestos, we walk tri- 
umphantly with our Lord in the midst of the 
fire. Y es, if he lead us there, even martyr-tor- 
tures, martyr-dungeons, and martyr-stakes shall 
be turned into scenes of rapturous triumph and 
joy. Thus the Comforter leadeth us to mount- 
ain-tops radiant and rosy with the light of God — 
to valleys of humiliation, sometimes resonant 
with sighs and groans, and then ringing with 
shouts of victory and triumph. But, blessed 
Comforter, only let us know that thou leadest 
us and we will follow thee ! 

We have, then, a sure and certain guide, 
whom we can always follow with the utmost 
confidence. Amid all the wildering mazes of 
our earthly course, amid all the perplexing cares 
of life, through all its waves of trouble and sor- 
row, here is a Guide who is ever near. And 


1 77 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

with the divine word in our hands, and the di- 
vine Comforter in our hearts, we not only need 
not , but, we positively shall not , go astray. Well 
may we join in the prayer of the poet as we 
close this chapter : 

“ While life’s dark maze I tread, 

And griefs around me spread, 

Be thou my guide ; 

Bid darkness turn to day ; 

Wipe sorrow’s tears away, 

Nor let me ever stray 
From thee aside.” 

THE GUIDING HAND. 

“ 4 Is this the way, my Father? ’ ‘ ’Tis, my child ; 

Thou must pass through this tangled, dreary wild 
If thou would’st reach the city undefiled, 

Thy peaceful home above.’ 

44 ‘ But enemies are round ! ’ ‘Yes, child, I know 
That where thou least expect thou’lt find a foe ; 

But victor thou shalt prove o’er all below ; 

Only seek strength above.’ 

“ ‘ My Father, it is dark ! ’ 4 Child, take my hand ; 

Cling close to me ; I’ll lead thee through the land ; 

Trust my all-seeing care ; so shalt thou stand 

’Midst glory bright above.’ 

44 4 My footsteps seem to slide !’ 4 Child, only raise 

Thine eye to me, then in these slippery ways 
I will hold up thy goings ; thou shalt praise 
Me for each step, above.’ 

44 ‘O, Father, I am weary ! ’ 4 Lean thy head 

Upon my breast. It was my love that spread 
Thy rugged path ; hope on, till I have said, 

44 Rest, rest for aye, above.” 

12 


i;8 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

THE COMFORTER AS THE SANCTIFIER. 

HE Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier. So the 



word of truth uniformly declares. “We 
are bound to give thanks always to God for 
you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because 
God hath from the beginning chosen you to 
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and 
belief of the truth.” 2 Thess. ii, 13. The Apos- 
tle Peter, writing to the “ strangers scattered 
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, 
and Bithynia,” calls them “elect according to the 
foreknowledge of God the Father, through sancti- 
ficatioii of the Spirit , unto obedience and sprink- 
ling of the blood of Jesus.” 1 Pet. i, 1,2. But the 
question arises just here, “ What is that sancti- 
fication which the Spirit of God accomplishes 
in the soul of the believer ? ” The word “ sanc- 
tify” has two meanings, which are correlative, 
the one implying, but not necessarily including, 
the other. One is “ to set apart,” “ devote,” 


The Mission of the Spirit. 1 79 

“ consecrate ;” the other is “ to hallow,” or “ to 
make holy.” The word is frequently used in 
both of these ways in the word of God. Hence 
we read that the first-born of Israel were 
sanctified to God, that is, set apart, devoted to 
the Lord. (Exod. xiii, 2.) They were redeemed, 
and therefore set apart. So also the tabernacle, 
and afterward the temple, the priests, the altars, 
the sacrifices were sanctified, or set apart, for 
sacred uses and purposes. It is also used in 
the sense of cleansing from sin, or making holy. 
In the New Testament the word as applied 
to believers always signifies purity, holiness. 
“ And such were some of you : but ye are 
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified 
in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
of our God.” 1 Cor. vi, 11. “ Christ also loved 

the Church, and gave himself for it ; that he might 
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of wa- 
ter by the word.” Eph. v, 25, 26. “ The very 

God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray 
God your whole spirit and soul and body be 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. v, 23. “ Where- 

fore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the peo- 
ple with his own blood, suffered without the 


So 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

gate.” Heb. xiii, 12. “ This is the will of God, 

even your sanctification, that ye should abstain 
from fornication.” 1 Thess. iv, 3. 

Among all evangelical Christians these defi- 
nitions are regarded as entirely in harmony 
with the divine teachings, and there is no dif- 
ference of opinion as to the nature of the work, 
about the truth and the blood by which it is 
accomplished, or as to the Almighty Agent who 
alone can perform it. The only real difference 
of opinion among them is as to the time when 
it may be performed, experienced, and enjoyed. 
This, however, I shall notice more fully here- 
after. 

At present let us look at the work of the 
Spirit in effecting this wonderful transformation 
and purification in the human soul. 

1. The Holy Spirit convinces the believer of 
the necessity of this work. This he does in two 
ways : (1.) By his inward operations upon the 
soul, revealing to it the corruptions which re- 
main after the work of regeneration has been 
performed ; and, (2.) By shedding his light upon 
the sacred page, thus revealing the duty and 
the privilege of the believer unto him. The 
theory which to some minds appears so beautiful, 


The Mission of the Spirit. 1 8 1 

that men are entirely sanctified when they are 
justified and regenerated, is regarded by nearly 
the whole Christian Church as in conflict with 
the teachings of God’s word, and contradictory 
to the universal experience of the Church of 
God. It is possible for us to conceive a per- 
son whose faith at the time of his experiencing 
justifying and renewing grace grasps in the 
whole work, and then, of course, it would be 
done ; and it may be also that in the progress- 
ive development of Christian doctrine, and in 
the increasing light which will shine upon this 
question, such experience will become more 
general ; but up to this time the instances, if 
such there are, are exceedingly rare. The com- 
mon experience of all Christians is substantially 
as follows : After the first gush of the raptures 
of pardon, and the first clear consciousness of 
“the renewing of the Holy Ghost,” which is 
prolonged sometimes for days and even weeks — 
there is revealed to the new-born child of God, 
by the Holy Spirit, that there are remaining 
corruptions, or sins in his heart. So clearly, in- 
deed, is this revelation made to him that no 
doubt exists in his mind as to the fact. He 
not only sees them, but he also feels them there. 


1 82 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

They do not dominate in his soul, they do not 
overcome the newly implanted graces of the 
spirit, but they struggle for the mastery. “ The 
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit 
against the flesh : and these are contrary the 
one to the other ; so that ye cannot do the 
things that ye would.” Gal. v, 17. Anger, 
pride, the love of the world, of its wealth, hon- 
ors, fashions, and follies ; “ the lust of the flesh, 
the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,” are all 
consciously existent in the believer’s soul, clam- 
oring for supremacy, but controlled by grace. 
At first the revelation of these to the young 
Christian is cause of inexpressible grief. Some- 
times he is led even to doubt whether he was 
ever made the subject of saving grace. “ How 
can I be a child of God,” he asks, “when so 
much of sin remains in my soul ? ” The dis- 
covery is truly and always a painful one. To 
one who has been exulting in the rapturous 
heights of pardon and salvation thus to be led 
to view his condition is cause of sorrow and 
humiliation ; but it is thus that the Comforter 
would lead the soul, not to undervalue the great 
and wonderful work already wrought, but to 
seek after a higher life, a fuller conformity to 


83 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

God, and the spotless purity which the blood 
of Jesus can impart. No one who has ever ex- 
perienced the saving grace of God can under- 
standingly place a light estimate upon it ; in- 
deed, the most difficult part of the work of his 
salvation has now been wrought. He has 
abandoned his sins, he has believed on the 
Lord Jesus Christ with a heart unto righteous- 
ness, and, as the blessed result, his sins and 
iniquities are remembered against him no more. 
He is “ justified freely,” he is born of the Spirit, 
he is adopted into the divine family, and conse- 
quently becomes “ an heir of God and a joint- 
heir with Jesus Christ.” In this blessed rela- 
tion “ he stands and rejoices in hope of the 
glory of God,” and his “hope maketh him not 
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad 
in his heart by the Holy Ghost which is given 
to him.” All the graces of the Spirit in regen- 
eration are implanted in his soul, and while he 
is faithful to God, they are ever growing there. 
Now I say that no person who has ever enjoyed 
this state and relation can speak lightly of them. 
All such expressions as “only justified,” “mere- 
ly regenerated,” should never be employed. 

But the inquiry arises here, “If what has 


1 84 The Mission of the Spirit. 

been done already is so great and glorious, can 
any thing further be attained or enjoyed by the 
believer?” Yes, for the Comforter, in his word 
and in the heart, convinces the believer of the 
necessity and desirableness of a higher life, of 
a closer walk with God. 

2. But not only so. He shows by the same 
means the possibility of experiencmg and en- 
joying it. It would be to confuse and dis- 
courage the child of God, if convinced of the 
remains of sin in his heart, and at the same 
time of the command of God requiring him to 
“ be holy,” to “ go on to perfection,” etc., he 
were assured that the attainment of such a 
state is an utter impossibility. But, blessed 
be God ! the Comforter who convinces of the 
necessity of this work points us also to the pos- 
sibility of its enjoyment. Oui blessed Saviour 
in his intercessory prayer says, “ Sanctify them 
through thy truth : thy word is truth.” John 
xvii, 1 7. So the Holy Spirit who inspired the 
word brings to the mind its promises and as- 
surances, and reveals the rich provisions of in- 
finite love. Does the child of God groan over 
his impurities and corruptions ? He is pointed 
to the fountain over which is written, “ The 


85 


The Mission of the Spirit. i 

blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from 
all sin.” i John i, 7. Does he sigh over his 
want of conformity to God ? He is assured 
that, beholding as with open face in a glass 
the glory of the Lord, he shall be changed, 
(KaronTpi^dfievot, or metamorphosed,) into the 
same image from glory to glory, even by the 
Lord the Spirit. (2 Cor. iii, 18.) Does he doubt 
whether this is his great privilege ? Again the 
Spirit speaks in his word, “ Faithful is he that 
calleth you, who also will do it!' 1 Thess. v, 24. 
He is led thus to see that, such is the amplitude 
of the provision, such the ajl-cleansing power 
of the blood of Christ, such the almightiness * 
of the Eternal Spirit, no matter what he may 
be, the work can be done ; and whenever, at 
any stage of the believer’s experience, his faith 
lays hold of these great promises and provis- 
ions, the work will be done. According to his 
faith it will be done unto him. This work of 
entire sanctification, we see, is the completion of 
an on-going process of grace in the soul — the 
entireness of a work which had hitherto been 
partial, the perfection of a work which up to 
this point had been imperfect or incomplete. 
That the work of grace in the soul up to this 


1 86 The Mission of the Spirit. 

period may be, and is, gradual in most in- 
stances cannot be doubted. It is possible for a 
person subsequently to his conversion to “ press 
forward toward the mark of his high calling in 
Christ Jesus,” “to grow in grace, and in the 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” to be 
maturing and ripening for glory. Probably 
this is the experience of most ot the children 
of God. Multitudes who are and have been 
ultimately saved in heaven have’ never distinctly 
experienced, or professed to enjoy, entire sancti- 
fication. To argue that those only have been 
saved who have had such definite experience, 
would exclude the vast majority of all the Church 
of God. No ; the work of sanctification in the 
human soul may be, and in the majority of in- 
stances up to this period in the history of the 
Church is, gradual. 

But here I inquire, Can this work of the 
Comforter be wrought instantaneously ? May 
the believer now present his body a living sac- 
rifice, holy and acceptable to God, and be con- 
scious that God now accepts his sacrifice ? 
May he now “reckon himself as indeed dead 
unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus 
Christ our Lord?” May the corruptions and 


The Mission of the Spirit. 1 87 

impurities of his soul now be all washed away 
in the blood of the Lamb ? May he now, by 
the aid of the Comforter, measure up to the 
divine requirement to love the Lord God with 
all his heart, soul, mind, and strength ? To 
all these inquiries I am constrained, in view of 
the clear and unequivocal testimony of the word 
of God, to answer, Yes! O how many dear 
Christians, not only of the Calvinistic, but also 
of the Wesleyan belief, halt, hesitate, and stag- 
ger just here ! How many grieve the blessed 
Comforter by their doubts, reasonings, phi- 
losophizings, and unbeliefs, and enshroud their 
minds in mist often so dense that all truths are' 
seen in a dim, shadowy, and spectral form by 
the mind ! 

The idea that we must wait until death before 
this work can be done is dishonoring to the 
blood of Christ and the power of the Holy 
Ghost. If sin were a material or physical thing, 
and if its seat were in the body, then death 
might have something to do in its destruction ; 
but it is in the soul, and death cannot touch it. 
O it is “ the blood of Jesus which cleanseth us 
from all sin ! ” It is the Holy Ghost who 
sanctifies the soul. And if it is the blood of 


1 88 The Mission of the Spirit. 

Jesus which does this work, it can do it now ; 
if it is the Holy Ghost who sanctifies, he can 
do the work now as well as a century hence. 
But it is so natural for us to ignore the work ol 
the Comforter, and to undertake a legal process, 
or to look to secondary causes for its accom- 
plishment. We think sometimes a long period 
of sickness would accomplish it, or some heavy 
disaster would wean us from the world and 
make us submit to Christ fully ; or, mayhap, if 
we could be placed in some coveted position in 
life we might then enjoy and retain this grace. 
But all this is only “limiting the Holy One of 
Israel.” That the Comforter can, and often 
does, make use of such means as I have referred 
to, cannot be doubted. And yet, have we not 
often wondered at ourselves in coming out of 
such periods of affliction and trial, or after hav- 
ing been placed in the positions so eagerly de- 
sired by us, to find how little spiritual improve- 
ment we have realized ? But we can no more 
mortify, or fast, or work ourselves into sanctifi- 
cation than we can into justification. It was 
not Luthers and Wesley’s and Whitefiekl’s 
fastings and prayers and good works which 
brought them into a justified state, but it was 


8 9 


The Mission of the Spirit. i 

faith , simple faith in Christ, which, by a single 
act, placed them where months, and even years, 
of earnest and honest effort had utterly failed 
to bring them. If we believe, then, distinctively 
and fully for this great blessing, the Comforter 
will honor our faith by imparting it to us now. 

3. This work of the Comforter in the sancti- 
fication of the believer is distinct from the work 
which he wrought in his regeneration. It is not 
separated from it — it was germinally and poten- 
tially present then ; but in character and chron- 
ologically it is distinct, just as the completion 
of a work is distinct from its commencement, as 
death is distinct from dying, as learning to 
read is distinct from learning the alphabet, 
or as the bringing on the top-stone is distinct 
from the foundation of the building. The work 
of regeneration and initial sanctification is 
the basal work of the whole Christian charac- 
ter. No one can be sanctified wholly who has 
not been sanctified in part in regeneration, and 
who is not living, at the time he seeks to have 
this work wrought in him, in a justified state. 
To seek sanctification without the enjoyment 
of justification would be as vain as to attempt 
to roof a foundationless house. If, therefore, 


190 The Mission of the Spirit. 

one would enjoy the fullness of God’s salvation, 
he must first have “ tasted and seen that the 
Lord is gracious.” He cannot be consciously 
sanctified unless he definitely and distinctly 
seek for it and definitely and distinctly believe 
for it. Thus seeking, and thus believing, he 
will clearly and distinctly receive this grace. 

4. The Comforter bears his witness to his 
operations in the soul at every stage and in 
every degree. I know there are many who 
deny the witness of the Spirit to the complete 
sanctification of the believer on the ground that 
there is no direct Scripture testimony upon it. 
It is here distinctly admitted that there is no 
direct revelation upon this point. But the ana- 
logical argument, sustained as it is, and has 
been for a century or more, by the clear experi- 
ence of many of the most eminent Christians, 
is both clear and convincing. Now that the 
Comforter could as well bear witness to this 
work when wrought in the soul as to the fact 
of our justification will be readily admitted. 
The only question is, Will he do it ? Does he 
ever bear this witness ? I have said that the 
Comforter does witness to his own work, what- 
ever that may be, in the human soul. For 


The Missio 7 i of the Spirit. 19 1 

instance, he convinces the world of the un- . 
godly “of sin, righteousness, and judgment” — 
that is, he so acts upon the soul of the sinner 
as to produce a sense of sin, “ of bondage unto 
fear.” In other words, he bears witness in his 
soul, not only to his sinful character and con- 
dition, but also to the multitude of his sins and 
the necessary and fearful consequences outflow- 
ing from them. When, thus awakened and 
convinced, the sinner seeks for pardon, he is 
justified freely and adopted into the family of 
God, and the “ Spirit bears witness with his 
spirit that he is a child of God.” So, as we* 
have seen, the Spirit convinces the believer of " 
the remaining corruptions in his heart, and of 
his need of purity — of holiness — and inclines 
him to seek after it. Then, when by faith he 
grasps the promised blessing, and the work 
is actually accomplished, the Spirit bears his 
witness to that work. Hence we see that from 
the first movements of the Comforter upon the 
soul, until he finishes his great work of grace, 
his constant testimony is borne. To the sinner 
he is “ the Spirit of bondage again to fear.” To 
the justified and adopted believer he is “the 
Spirit of adoption.” And to the sanctified be- 


192 The Mission of the Spirit. 

liever he is “the Spirit of holiness.” To say 
that the Holy Spirit only witnesses in the soul 
to our adoption, is contrary to the express teach- 
ing of the Word of God. The Saviour distinct- 
ly promised, “ He shall testify of me,” John 

xv, 26 ; “ He shall glorify me : for he shall re- 
ceive of mine, and shall show it unto you,” John 

xvi, 14. The Apostle Paul declares that the 
Holy Ghost gave his attestation to his utterance 
of burdened desire for the salvation of his 
“ brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh.” 
“ I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con- 
science also bearing me witness in the Holy 
Ghost.” Rom. ix, 1. And thebeloved John de- 
clares, “ Hereby we know that he abideth in us, 
by the Spirit which he hath given us.” 1 John 
iii, 24. Of course, wherever this witness is, it 
will be corroborated by the testimony of our own 
spirit, and by the saintliness of the life of the 
wholly sanctified one. The two witnesses — that 
of the Spirit of God and of our own spirit — are 
always conjoined, and thus the joint testimony 
is indubitable. 

It may be asked here, “ If the Comforter has 
wholly purified and hallowed the soul, is there 
any further work for him to do ? ” Most cer- 


93 


The Mission of the Spirit . i 

tainly there is. In fact, the soul now, with all 
its volitions, affections, and intellectual powers, 
is so completely under his control that he can 
lead it onward and upward, nearer and still 
nearer to God in accelerated motion from day 
to day. Disencumbered of its load of corrup- 
tion, it rises to loftier altitudes of holiness and 
love. The believer now “ walks with God.” 
His communion with him is sweet and uninter- 
rupted ; his peace is calm, deep, settled ; it is 
“ the peace of God,” “ perfect peace,” and it 
“ keeps his heart and mind through Christ 
Jesus.” Love now sits enthroned within his 
soul, and sways its gentle scepter over all his 
“ passions and his powers.” Thus his upward 
flight is steady, unspasmodic, and rapid. 

“ Changed from glory into glory, 

Till in heaven he takes his place ; 

Till he casts his crown before Thee, 

Lost in wonder, love, and praise.” 

13 


1 94 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


CHAPTER XV. 


THE COMFORTER RESISTED, QUENCHED, GRIEVED. 



O truth is more clearly made known to 


^ us in the word of God than that which 
teaches us that man is the subject of Divine 
influence. Two things are predicated of this : 

First, that this fact is universal. “ He shall 
convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and 
of judgment.” “ That was the true Light which 
lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” 
John i, 9. “ The grace [or gift] of God that 

bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all 
men , teaching us,” etc. Titus ii, 11, 12. Even 
where the light of the Gospel does not shine, 
and the institutions of the Gospel are not en- 
joyed, there the Spirit acts directly upon man’s 
heart and conscience, writes the law of God 
upon his mind, gives him the sense of sin and 
of the need of forgiveness. Hence, wherever 
man, redeemed man, is, there the Comforter is 
at work upon his heart and mind. 


i95 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Second. This Divine influence is imparted 
unconditionally and irresistibly. It is the free, 
universal gift of God, secured by the atonement 
of Christ and his mediation before the throne. 
“ The gifts and calling of God are without 
repentance,” (Rom. xi, 29,) or any other condi- 
tion whatsoever, on the part of man. Just as 
soon as an immortal being opens his eyes to the 
light of this world he is encompassed by the 
gracious provisions of the atonement of Christ. 
He exists as a redeemed creature, he lives in a 
redeemed world, in a world where the Holy 
Spirit is ever employed to bring man back to- 
his God ; and, whether he desires it or not, 
whether he is willing or unwilling, still the 
Comforter comes to him with his heavenly illu- 
mination, his divine influence, convincing him 
of sin, and of his consequent need of the mercy 
of God. May I not truly say that man really 
has no choice in this matter as to whether he 
will or will not have this divine influence upon 
his soul ? He is, he must be, enlightened and 
convinced “ whether he will hear or forbear,” 
whether he will be saved or damned. He can- 
not prevent the entrance of the Spirit into his 
heart. 


196 The Mission of the Spirit. 

But now, these points being settled, the 
question arises, “ How far will the Holy Spirit 
exert his sovereign power for the purpose of 
saving him ? ” That he is unconditionally and 
irresistibly convinced of sin we have already 
seen ; but will he be unconditionally and irre- 
sistibly saved ? A full answer to this would 
involve the whole question of the freedom of 
the human will, which would carry me very far 
beyond the purpose of this work. There are 
some points, however, which lie directly in my 
path, and I proceed to consider them. 

1. The precise point where divine agency 
ends and human agency begins can never be 
seen by the human eye or expressed in human 
language. The acutest intellects have ex- 
pended their utmost strength upon these ques- 
tions during the by-gone centuries, and the 
results of their efforts have been unsatisfactory 
to themselves and to others. There are diffi- 
culties involved in all such investigations which 
can never be fully overcome. While the gen- 
eral statements of the word of God are clear 
and explicit, yet there are facts in human ex- 
perience which baffle our chosen theories, and 
humble our pride into the very dust. It is by 


i 9 7 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

no means infrequent that persons trained under 
the influence of Arminianism tell us of a period 
when “ they were so wrought upon by the Spirit 
of God that they could not resist his power,” 
that it was “ impossible for them to shake off 
the influence which had seized hold upon 
them and in the language of the hymn so 
frequently used, 

“ The more I strove against its power 

I felt its weight and guilt the more,” 

have expressed their conscious inability to get 
rid of their burden. Persons in many instances,, 
and in various conditions and circumstances of 
life, have thus been seized upon, and not only 
when they have least thought upon the ques- 
tion of their salvation, but also when they have 
seemed to be the farthest away from God. 
Their subsequent life of devotion to Christ has 
given clearest demonstration of the reality of 
the work wrought in them. On the other hand, 
the experience of a majority of Christians teaches 
that, when convinced of sin by the Holy Spirit, 
they had the consciousness of a power by which 
they might have resisted this influence, but 
which they did not will to exercise, but that 


198 The Mission of the Spirit. 

rather they were inclined to yield to this divine 
influence and be saved. 

Now I ask, Could the first class of persons 
referred to have resisted the Spirit ? Could 
they have so resisted him that they would not 
have been saved ? Is their language in the 
relation of their experience to be taken accord- 
ing to its literal meaning, or as merely express- 
ive of their deep conviction of sin, combined 
with a willingness on their part to yield to 
Christ ? Who can so answer these questions 
as to relieve the mind of all doubt concerning 
them ? There is yet another question here, 
If some men have these deep and overpower- 
ing convictions, why do not all men have them ? 
That there is a difference of operations we all 
know, but why is one irresistibly drawn to 
Christ, and another able to resist so far that he 
ultimately perishes in his sin and guilt ? Vol- 
umes have been written in reply to these ques- 
tions, and the mind is very far from being clear 
in its conclusions upon them. Where we can- 
not penetrate it is better for us to bow down 
and adore. 

2. While very many questions which might 
be asked are thus vailed in obscurity, God’s 


The Mission of the Spirit. 199 

word clearly and distinctly informs us that 
multitudes of persons have resisted, quenched, 
or grieved the Spirit, so that they have ulti- 
mately perished ; and thus we learn that the 
sovereign, eternal, almighty Spirit may be so 
resisted or quenched or grieved that the design 
of his operations will be unaccomplished, and 
man, the subject of these influences, be aban- 
doned by him to endless destruction. Now 
very early in the history of the world, in 
fact in its very infancy, God most clearly an- 
nounced this truth to man : “ My Spirit shall 
not always strive with man.” Gen. vi, 3. Nev- - 
ertheless one hundred and twenty years of res- 
pite and effort were enjoyed by the antedilu- 
vians before the final destruction came. During 
all that period Noah preached, and the Spirit 
strove with man ; but never were efforts for the 
good of the race more persistently or more uni- 
versally resisted, until finally “the flood came 
and took them all away.” 1 Pet. iii, 18-20. 
How many of those who struggled and were 
swallowed up in the seething waters were 
saved, if any, I have no means of knowing. 
The Prophet Isaiah declared of the Jewish 
people, “ But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy 


200 


The Mission of the Spirit 

Spirit : therefore he was turned to be their ene- 
my, and he fought against them.” Isa. Ixiii, io. 
Again, Zechariah says of the same people, 
“Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant 
stone, lest they should hear the law, and the 
words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in 
his Spirit.” Zech. vii, 12. The martyr Stephen 
also charges them with the same thing in his 
address before the Sanhedrim, “Ye stiff-necked 
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do al- 
ways resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers did, 
so do ye.” Acts vii, 51. The same truth is 
taught in the following exhortations of the 
apostle : “ Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, 
whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemp- 
tion.” Eph. iv, 30. “ Quench not the Spirit.” 

1 Thess. v, 19. There can be no doubt that 
when the Spirit sheds his light upon the mind, 
and exerts his power upon the soul, it is for the 
purpose of man’s salvation. Without such di- 
vine operation he could not be saved, with it he 
may be saved ; but if man resists this influence, 
and just as long as he does so, he will remain 
unsaved. If during the whole period of his pro- 
bation he continues to resist, he will, he must , 
perish ; but if he perish at last he will be left 


The Mission of the Spirit. 201 

without excuse, because all the aid essential for 
his salvation was imparted to him by the Holy 
Spirit. 

3. There is no portion of the word of God 
which, if properly understood, teaches that man 
will be so irresistibly wrought upon by the Holy 
Spirit that he will necessarily be saved. Those 
portions usually relied upon in proof of such a 
position really teach no such thing. This lan- 
guage, which, however, is not in the Bible, is 
often used as a quotation from the word of God 
to sustain this necessitarian view : “ My people 
shall be made willing in the day of my power. ,v 
This is a misquotation. The language is, “ Thy 
people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” 
Psa. cx, 3. The words implying compulsion 
are inserted in the passage by the advocates of 
this view ; but suppose they were there, it says 
nothing about sinners being made willing to be 
saved, but simply, “Thy people shall be willing.” 
The Hebrew word employed here, ninn?, signi- 
fies “ free-will offerings,” and is the most ex- 
pressive word in its root and in its various 
branches of voluntary sacrifice and service in 
all the language. So it is used in the following 
passages : Judg. v, 2, 9 ; Exod. xxv, 2 ; xxv, 21, 


202 The Mission of the Spirit. 

29 ; Neh. xi, 2 ; 1 Chron. xxix, 5, 6 ; Psa. cxix, 
108. Again, the language of the Saviour is 
often quoted for the same purpose : “ All that 
the Father giveth me shall come to me/’ 
John vi, 3 7. There can be no doubt of this. 
But the question is, Who hath the Father given 
to the Son ? Is it not those whom the Father 
foreknew as believing on his name ? And all 
who believe on him do and will come to him. 
Again, Christ says, “ No man can come to me, 
except the Father which hath sent me draw 
him.” John vi, 44. But this does not imply 
that he will be irresistibly dragged unto him. 
Yet another passage is quoted to sustain the 
view now opposed : “ Work out your own sal- 
vation with fear and trembling : for it is God 
which worketh in you both to will and to do 
of his good pleasure.” Phil, ii, 12, 13. From 
this it is argued that God so irresistibly works 
upon man’s will that he is necessitated to per- 
form his good pleasure. But certainly the apos- 
tle teaches no such thing. He is urging the 
Philippian Christians to work out their salva- 
tion, and for the purpose of encouraging them 
he assures them that God is working in them 
“ to will and to do of his good pleasure.” The 


The Mission of the Spirit. 203 

natural and legitimate idea is, God gives us the 
power to will in the direction of our salvation ; 
but it is for us to exercise that power. He 
gives us the power to do his good pleasure, but 
we are to employ that power. Just as he gives 
us the power to see, to walk, and to hear, while 
all these faculties are to be exercised by us. 
We reach, then, the conclusion, that while the 
Spirit of God strives with every man, yet that 
there is in man the fearful power of resistance, 
which he, in very many instances, employs, and 
that he may so employ it as to render of no 
salutary effect all the efforts which he makes 
for his salvation. 


204 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. 

E find in the word of God several import- 



* ’ ant and startling announcements, which, 
while differing in their forms of expression and 
in their application to individual character, yet 
evidently refer to the same sinful acts, their 
unpardonableness and their irredeemableness. 
The first is as follows : “ Wherefore I say unto 
you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be 
forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 
And whosoever speaketh a word against the 
Son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but who- 
soever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall 
not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nei- 
ther in the world to come.” Matt, xii, 31, 32 ; 
(Mark iii, 28, 30 ; Luke xii, 10.) The passage 
in St. Mark is similar, but adds to the threat- 
ened impossibility of forgiveness, “ Is in danger 
of eternal damnation and a sentence of ex- 


205 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

planation, “ Because they said, He hath an un- 
clean spirit.” The apostle, writing to the Ephe- 
sians, says of some, “Who being past feeling, 
have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, 
to work all uncleanness with greediness.” Eph. 
iv, 19. Again, to Timothy he says of certain 
ones, “ Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood 
Moses, so do these also resist the truth : men 
of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the 
faith.” 2 Tim. iii, 8. The same is said of apos- 
tates : “For it is impossible for those who wefe 
once enlightened, and have tasted of the heav- 
enly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy 
Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, 
and the powers of the world to come, if they 
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repent- 
ance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the 
Son of God afresh, and put him to an open 
shame.” Heb. vi, 4-6. Again, in the same 
epistle he says, “ For if we sin willfully, after that 
we have received the knowledge of the truth, 
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but 
a certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
fiery indignation, which shall devour the adver- 
saries.” Heb. x, 26, 27. 

The Apostle John evidently refers to the 


20 6 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

same sin when he says, “ If any man see his 
brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he 
shall ask, and he shall give him life for them 
that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto 
death : I do not say that he shall pray for it. 
All unrighteousness is sin : and there is a sin 
not unto death.” i John v, 1 6, 17. Jude seems 
to regard the same character when he writes, 
“ For there are certain men crept in unawares, 
who were before of old ordained to this con- 
demnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of 
God into lasciviousness, and denying the only 
Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . 
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when 
they feast with you, feeding themselves with- 
out fear : clouds they are without water, car- 
ried about of winds ; trees whose fruit wither- 
eth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by 
the roots ; raging waves of the sea, foaming 
out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom 
is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” 
Jude iv, 12, 13. 

Some of these passages have, doubtless, a 
reference to total apostasy from the faith of 
Christ, and from a state of regeneracy, and 
others to those who, although unregenerate, yet 


207 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

have rejected the clearest evidences of the truth 
of Christianity, and by determined and persist- 
ent unbelief have placed themselves in a con- 
dition beyond the reach of mercy and salvation. 
It is important that we have, if possible, a cor- 
rect view of the classes of persons to whom 
these Scriptures refer. For want of this many 
have been driven into the deepest wretchedness 
and gloom, some have been driven into despair 
and insanity, and some to suicide. Various 
theories have been entertained of this sin. 
Irenaeus regarded it as the rejection of the Gos- 
pel of Christ, and applied it to the Gnostics ; 
Athanasius believed that it consisted in a de- 
nial of the divinity of Christ ; Origen thought 
that it was any mortal sin committed after bap- 
tism ; Augustine applied it to every one who 
died impenitently. 

The most commonly received opinion of mod- 
ern times is, that this sin consists in attribut- 
ing the miracles wrought by Christ to Satanic 
agency, when, according to their own belief, the 
casting out of devils could only be accomplished 
by the Spirit of God. This opinion seems to 
have some foundation in the following language. 
Our Saviour on the occasion now referred to 


208 The Mission of the Spirit. 

had just cast out a devil, blind and dumb. At 
this marvelous manifestation of power the 
people were amazed, and inquired, “ Is not this 
the son of David ? ” “ But when the Pharisees 

heard it, they said, This fellow doth not 
cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince 
of the devils.” In replying to this our Sav- 
iour said : “ If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, 
by whom do your children cast them out ? 
therefore they shall be your judges. But if 
I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then 
the kingdom of God is come unto you.” Matt, 
xii, 24, 27, 28. Now it is evident from this lan- 
guage that the Saviour did primarily declare 
that the Pharisees on this occasion had com- 
mitted this sin. 

1. Before this time they — the Pharisees — had 
taken some interest to inquire as to his charac- 
ter and his mission. At a very early stage of 
his ministry they were anxious to learn who and 
what he was. But their carnal expectations of 
a Messiah were not met in him. In their pride 
they had looked for one who should come in 
power and great glory, in all “ the pomp and 
circumstance” of an earthly conqueror, and 
that the outcome of his appearing would be 


209 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

their disinthrallment from the bondage of Rome, 
and their establishment as the rulers of the 
world. This idea had been ingrained in the 
very heart of the Jewish nation. Even the dis- 
ciples of our Lord clung to it until after his res- 
urrection from the dead, and it was only burned 
out of them by the pentecostal fires. Thus, 
while the Pharisees might have been willing to 
receive him as a great teacher, or even as a 
great prophet, they would not receive him as 
the divine Messiah. Had his great power been 4 
exerted in behalf of their temporal aggrandize- 
ment they might, and probably would, have 
hailed him as their king. But he made it plain 
to them that he would not do this — that this 
was not his purpose — and, consequently, they 
rejected him. Now, having as a body resolved 
upon rejecting him, their course, or line of con- 
duct, was marked out ; they would by some 
means, sooner or later, compass his death. 

2. Their first efforts were to be directed 
against the influence of his miraculous works. 
It is a remarkable fact that the first attack of 
the enemies of Christ in all the ages has been 
against those miracles which furnish a demon- 
stration of his divinity. That he did wonderful 
14 


2io The Mission of the Spirit. 

works, all acknowledged. The people saw these 
works, and believed that they were wrought by 
the power of God. The Pharisees reasoned, 
therefore, that the people must be induced to 
take a different view of them or they would 
never be able to succeed in their sanguinary 
purpose. The occasion for making a demon- 
stration in this direction soon occurred. A man 
was brought to Jesus who was blind and dumb, 
and he healed him. The people at once were 
impressed that Christ was indeed “ the Son of 
David.” The Pharisees, as we have seen, heard 
this inquiry. Now was their time. They there- 
fore said to the people aside, “He casteth out 
devils by Beelzebub, (or Beelzebul,) the prince 
of the devils.” In other words, He is in league 
with Satan to deceive the people. 

But the omniscient Jesus, although they had 
said this aside when they thought that he did 
not hear them or know what was in their 
thoughts, proceeded to answer their vain, un- 
founded, and wicked assumptions. Now it was 
in view of this state of things that Jesus said to 
them, “ Wherefore ” — in answer to what you 
have said, and as a result of your saying — “ I say 
unto you,” etc. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 2 1 1 

3. It is evident that this was no sudden ebul- 
lition of feeling on the part of the Pharisees. 
It was not uttered in a moment of excitement, 
but it was a premeditated thing, and undertaken 
with the design of undermining the authority 
of Christ among the people. They had made 
up their minds deliberately to reject him — to 
put him to death. But they wanted the people 
with them. From the very first the masses 
had heard him gladly. They had followed him 
in vast throngs to the mountain, the sea-shore, 
and the desert ; they had hung upon his lips as 
he uttered his loving words, and had stood in 
wonderment and awe in the presence of his stu- 
pendous miracles. It would seem, therefore, 
that the Pharisees had resolved on one of those 
three expedients, or upon all of them : Either 
they must turn the people against him, or they 
must put him to death privately, or they must 
so involve him with the Roman government as 
to insure his death as a traitor to that govern- 
ment. They were now trying the first of these 
expedients, and hence they came out thus 
boldly and blasphemously. 

4. I do not think that they committed the 
unpardonable sin by merely saying what they 


212 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

said. But the utterance of their lips was only 
the outward evidence of the state of their 
hearts. It was in their hearts before it passed 
their lips. They had determined upon saying 
this as soon as the occasion should arise ; and 
just as soon as that occasion arrived they said 
it coolly and deliberately, and, I may add, ma- 
liciously. It was not, then, the isolated utter- 
ance which brought upon them this terrible 
announcement ; it was not this alone which 
sealed their doom : it was their willful and de- 
termined rejection of Christ, which, ere their 
lips had uttered these blasphemous words, had 
cut them off from all hope of salvation. The 
utterance was only the outcropping of their 
unbelief and wickedness — only the legitimate 
fruitage of their corrupt hearts. It was the 
outward demonstration of their deep and damn- 
ing depravity. Hence Christ immediately adds : 
“ Either make the tree good, and his fruit good ; 
or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit cor- 
rupt : for the tree is known by his fruit.” And 
again : “ O generation of vipers, how can ye, 
being evil, speak good things ? for out of the 
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” 
Matt, xii, 33, 34. It is a very slight and shallow 


213 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

view of this question which many take, that the 
unpardonable sin consisted in the outward act 
alone. No, their unpardonableness and conse- 
quent future damnation were the result of their 
rejection of the Son of God. 

5. Now, then, as the immediate result of 
their change of attitude toward Christ, his 
course was changed toward them. He soon 
speaks to them in parables, which they, in their 
blindness, would not, and could not, understand ; 
which he knew they would not understand, and, 
may I not add, which he designed they should 
no t understand. How terrible is the signifi- 
cance of the language of Christ against them in 
private to his disciples when explaining to them 
his parables ! “ Therefore speak I to them in 

parables : because they seeing see not ; and 
hearing they hear not, neither do they under- 
stand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy 
of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, 
and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall 
see, and shall not perceive : For this people’s 
heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of 
hearing, and their eyes they have closed ; lest 
at any time they should see with their eyes, and 
hear with their ears, and should understand 


214 The Mission of the Spirit. 

with their heart, and should be converted, and 
I should heal them.” Matt, xiii, 13-15. 

All his subsequent utterances to the Phari- 
sees were in threatenings, denunciations, and 
woes, while they in their willful and confirmed 
unbelief were hurrying on to meet their final 
and irrevocable doom. They had taken their 
position. Christ must die. And failing to get 
the people with them, and fearing to put him to 
death themselves, they involved him by for- 
sworn witnesses with the Roman authority, 
and by wild and persistent clamors they in- 
duced a weak and wicked Roman Governor to 
deliver him to be crucified. A few short years 
only passed away, and the wrath came upon 
them to the uttermost. Their city was taken, 
their temple destroyed, and the blood of the 
murdered Christ, which in their fearful impre- 
cations they had invoked upon themselves and 
upon their children, was visited on them until 
more than a million of the Jewish people per- 
ished, and the historian tells us that more were 
condemned to be crucified than they could ob- 
tain crosses to place them on. As they had 
willfully rejected Christ there was no further 
sacrifice for their sin, and only a “ fearful look- 


The Mission of the Spirit. 2 1 5 

ing for of judgment and fiery indignation.” 
Heb. x, 27. 

But the question arises here, Is it possible 
for any one now to commit a sin that is impar- 
donable , and that will place him beyond the reach 
of hope and mercy? I answer, Undoubtedly 
it is. But let it be remembered that this is 
not a sin which stands out isolated and inde- 
pendent of all other actions, but which is rooted 
deep in pre-existing depravity, unbelief, and sin. 
It is, indeed, the culminating act of a series of 
transgressions rashly persisted in for a longer 
or shorter period. It is a final act, which links 
itself to a long chain, and completes the work 
by which the soul binds itself to an endless 
perdition and irredeemable woe. “ The princi- 
pal misunderstanding of this passage has arisen 
from the prejudice which possesses men’s minds 
owing to the use of the words, * The sin against 
the Holy Ghost.’ It is not one particular act 
of sin which is here condemned, but a state of 
sin, and that state a willful and determined op- 
position to the present power of the Holy 
Spirit.” * 

Before proceeding further it is well now to 


* Alford in loco . 


2l6 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

determine the meaning and force of the word 
“ blasphemy ” in the passage under considera- 
tion. “ When the word,” says Mr. Webster, 
“ is used in reference to men it signifies inju- 
rious and calumnious speaking, reproachful 
speeches made against them. When it is ap- 
plied to God it signifies not only reproaches 
uttered against him, but also a denial of the at- 
tributes and excellences he possesses, and in- 
cludes always the idea of willful and rebellious 
enmity.” Lange, in his exhaustive commen- 
tary, says, “ It is open and full opposition to 
conversion, and hence to forgiveness. The 
Holy Spirit, who is here spoken of in distinct 
terms, is the last and highest manifestation of 
the Spirit of God, who completes and perfects 
the revelation of God, and in that capacity 
manifests himself in the human consciousness. 
Blasphemously to rebel in opposition to one’s 
better knowledge and conscience against this 
manifestation and influence of the Holy Spirit 
is to commit moral suicide, and to destroy one’s 
religious and moral susceptibility.” * 

In view of these definitions and explanations 
I am now prepared to say, 

* Lange in loco. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 217 

I. That this sin has been committed by mul- 
titudes of persons since the day of Christ, and 
that it is committed from day to day at the 
present time. From the Scriptures previously 
quoted it is evident that persons who had never 
seen Christ or beheld his miracles, persons who 
had enjoyed very great advantages and who 
had been made partakers of rich blessings, had 
placed themselves in a condition in which par- 
don was impossible, and in which “ death ” 
would result inevitably and necessarily. They 
did not sin as the Pharisees and priests who 
saw Christ and beheld the wonders which he 
wrought, but they sinned under the influence 
of the same spirit of unbelief and rebellion 
which ruined them. The Pharisees and priests 
rejected the testimony of the Holy Ghost to 
the divinity of Christ’s character and mission. 
That testimony was then furnished by miracles, 
which they declared were wrought by Satanic 
agency, and not by the Spirit of God. The 
testimony of the Holy Ghost is now given in 
the word, and by his operations in the human 
soul. The sin of the world, the sin against the 
Holy Ghost, is the willful , persistent rejection of 
the testimony which he bears to Christ. The 


218 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

great design of his bestowment was to convince 
the world "*of sin because they believed not” 
on Christ. Now if this conviction is unyielded 
to and determinedly rejected, involving as it 
does the denial of his claims, the refusal to ac- 
cept of his atoning sacrifice, the trampling of 
his blood under their feet as an unhallowed or 
as a useless and valueless thing, there is cer- 
tainly no more sacrifice for sin, there is no 
possibility of repentance, there can be no exer- 
cise of saving faith, and consequently no for- 
giveness. Now in all the ages persons have 
been doing these very things, and they are 
doing them now. Men are now abandoned of 
God. They now reach a point where they are 
“ past feeling,” where the fearful “ tokens of 
perdition” gather thick upon them, and their 
doom is almost legibly written upon their 
brows. Let no one flatter himself, then, that 
this sin cannot be committed now. Take the 
following illustration from a book of rare inter- 
est which has recently appeared : “ During an 
extensive revival in an American college some 
years ago a company of students met, and, as 
if led on by Satan himself, pierced veins in each 
other’s arms, mingled their blood, and with it 


The Mission of the Spirit. 2iQ 

signed a formal resolve that they would resist 
forever God’s Spirit and the religion of Christ. 
Their convictions ceased, though the religious 
interest for a time continued. Not one of the 
number referred to was converted. Subse- 
quently one by one they died in despair, with 
the gloom of future and eternal ruin hanging 
over them. The crime of these young men 
was probably blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost. They sinned knowingly — despised evi- 
dences of the truth knowingly. It was malice 
prepense. They made their own record, took 
great pains to make a sure record, and in 
this they approached the awful point of de- 
parture.” * 

2 . This sin is not unpardonable because the 
infinite mercy of God in Christ Jesus cannot 
pardon any and every sin, but because the per- 
son committing it places himself voluntarily in 
a condition in which he cannot perform the re- 
quirements which are essential to pardon. Upon 
what principles God’s moral government will 
deal with those who have never heard of Christ 
we do not fully know — how they will be saved, 
if saved, or damned, if damned. But one thing 

* Credo, p. 386. 


220 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

is certain, that in Christendom, where men have 
heard of Christ, and know of the gracious influ- 
ences of the Spirit of God, they cannot be 
saved without voluntarily yielding to the con- 
victions of the Spirit and believing in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And yet we know there are 
many, very many, who have pierced the Saviour 
of men “ a thousand thousand times/’ and have 
grieved the Holy Spirit in innumerable in- 
stances. Now these repeated acts of resistance 
and rejection render the heart insensible, and 
ultimately make it incapable of religion. Every 
one knows that the continued neglect or per- 
sistent abuse of any faculty will, sooner or 
later, render it incapable of action or exercise. 
This is true of our physical and mental powers, 
and it is also true of our moral powers. The 
moral powers become so benumbed, so hard- 
ened, so dead , that repentance and faith are im- 
possible. O if their rocky hearts could only 
feel, if their blinded eyes could see, if the deep 
of their spirits could be stirred, and repentant 
tears could flow, then there would be hope ! 
But as salvation from sin is conditioned upon 
repentance and faith, and as these, in view of 
the abandoned condition of the sinner, cannot 


22 1 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

be exercised, there is, consequently, no forgive- 
ness. This state is reached, as we have seen, 
usually through a long series of resistances, of 
quenching the Spirit, and grieving him away ; 
and the doomed man passes on unconsciously, 
or indifferently, from one degree of sin to 
another, until the final crisis is reached. There 
are other instances, and they not a few, where 
the process has been more clearly marked and 
known — instances where the crisis has be£n 
consciously reached, where the Divine Spirit has 
deeply impressed it upon the soul that this was 
his last call, and that if now resisted he would 
never return again. And yet, with all that con- 
scious conviction, the Spirit has been grieved, 
and the terrible results have followed. In some 
instances years have passed away since that 
fearful act was performed, and the sinner has 
lived on upon the earth ; and yet the heart 
has remained unfeeling as adamant, and un- 
moved as the stony brow of the mountain. 
There are those who have reached this state by 
voluntarily embracing erroneous doctrines or 
infidel theories ; who have denied the atone- 
ment of Christ as well as his divinity, and the 
personality and work of the Holy Spirit. They 


222 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

are those of whom the Apostle speaks who 
have trodden under foot the Son of God, and 
have counted the blood of the covenant, where- 
with we are sanctified, an unholy thing, and 
have done despite unto the Spirit of grace. 
(Heb. x, 29.) Others have totally apostatized, 
after having known Christ experimentally. 
“They have crucified the Son of God afresh, 
and put him to an open shame.” On the one 
hand, “ there remaineth nothing but a fearful 
looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation 
which shall devour the adversaries,” (Heb. 
x, 27 ;) and on the other, it is impossible for 
them to be “ renewed to repentance,” and their 
“ end is to be burned.” They have sinned 
“unto death.” (Heb. vi, 4-8.) The Spirit has de- 
parted from them never to return ; the atone- 
ment no more avails for them ; heaven is barred 
against them forever, and hell’s deep abyss is 
yawning to receive them into its fathomless 
waves of woe. 

3. From what has preceded, it will have been 
probably suggested to the reader that, where 
persons are really concerned and troubled about 
their condition , fearing that , mayhap , they have 
committed this sin , they give clear evidence that 


223 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

such is not the case. The very facts that they 
are still anxious about their souls, that they 
tremble under the apprehensions of approaching 
judgment, that they would fain come to Christ 
and enjoy the favor of God, that they regard 
his forgiveness and his favor as the most desira- 
ble things in the universe — all give evidence 
that they may be forgiven. True, their sins may 
be great ; they may have often resisted the 
Spirit ; their transgressions may be multiplied 
and aggravated ; but if they desire forgiveness, 
that evinces that the Spirit of God is still influ- 
encing their hearts and inclining them toward 
Christ. And just as long as the Holy Spirit 
remains with the sinner he may be saved. 
Those who have committed this sin have no 
more feeling or concern about their souls. They 
are “past feeling.” The darkness has become 
so dense that the light of the Spirit fails to pen- 
etrate it. Conscience has become so seared 
that it is unreached by the agencies of redemp- 
tion, and its voice no longer thunders down 
through the avenues of the soul in tones of 
warning and alarm, and the heart is so in- 
crusted in ungodliness and unbelief that noth- 
ing affects or moves it. Let me say, then, dear 


224 77 zc Mission of the Spirit . 

reader, if still you weep, and feel, and pray, 
whatever other sins you may be guilty of, they 
are not unpardonable. There is forgiveness 
for you. It is wonderful that God can forgive 
such a sinner ; but he can and he will forgive 
you if you will now heartily accept of Christ. 

4. While the tokens of perdition may be ap- 
parent in some persons, yet it would be difficult, 
and, indeed, impossible, for us to say of any one 
that he is guilty of the unpardonable sin. There 
may be in our minds an awful fear that such sin 
has been committed by some person or persons 
whom we may know ; our vitals sometimes al- 
most freeze with horror as we think of such a 
possibility in their case ; but we cannot say 
with certainty that such is the case. God does 
not place the flaming seal of his condemnation 
upon the brow of the doomed man so visibly in 
this world that mortal eyes can clearly discern 
it. We may have thought that we could almost 
trace the fiery characters written there, and yet 
some of whom we have thus thought have sub- 
sequently had the name of the Lord written 
there. And there may be others, for whom we 
are fondly cherishing hope, who are going about 
with their doom written upon their souls. One 


225 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

thing is clearly evident, namely, that every time 
the Spirit is quenched or grieved, man takes 
another step toward this fearful state. Every 
time, in fact, that he resists the gracious influ- 
ences which are brought to bear upon him for 
his salvation he is hastening the fatal catas- 
trophe. He may, by timely repentance, avoid 
the fatal crisis ; he may reach it ere he is aware. 
Every unconverted man should tremble and 
stand in awe in view of the fearful peril of his 
position. He stands in jeopardy every hour, 
not only of death, but of what is worse than a 
thousand deaths — abandonment of God. 

It is impossible for any finite being to know 
precisely how or when this crisis may be reached, 
or to see definitely where lies the boundary line 
between mercy available for pardon and salva- 
tion and the wrath of God, from which there is 
no escape. There can be no doubt, however, 
that God does all he can do, consistently with 
his character and man’s moral agency, for the 
salvation of each individual soul, and that no 
one goes down to the abodes of sorrow and de- 
spair until Infinite Wisdom clearly foresees that 
any further effort for his salvation would be 

utterly unavailing. It is then that the ever- 
15 


226 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

deepening darkness of an endless night — star- 
less, rayless, hopeless — settles down upon the 
deathless soul, now forever abandoned of God. 
No words can express this more fully than the 
following lines, written by Dr. Alexander : 

“ There is a time, we know not when, 

A point , we know not where, 

That marks the destiny of man 
To glory or despair. 

“ There is a line, by us unseen, 

Which crosses every path ; 

The hidden boundary between 
God’s patience and his wrath. 

“To pass that limit is to die ; 

To die as if by stealth ; 

It does not quench the beaming eye, 

Or pale the glow of health. 

“ The conscience may be still at ease. 

The spirits light and gay ; 

That which is pleasing still may please. 

And care be thrown away ; 

“ But on that forehead God has set 
Indelibly a mark, 

Unseen by man, for man as yet 
Is blind and in the dark. 

“ And yet the doomed man’s path below 
Like Eden may have bloomed ; 

He did not , does not , will not, know 
Or feel that he is doomed. 


227 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

“ He knows, he feels, that all is well, 
And every fear is calmed ; 

He lives, he dies, he sinks to hell, 

Not only doomed , but damned. 

“ O where is this mysterious bourne 
By which our path is crossed — 

Beyond which God himself hath sworn 
That he who goes is lost ? 

“ How far may we go on in sin ? 

How long will God forbear ? 

Where does hope end ? and where begin 
The confines of despair ? 

“ An answer from the skies is sent, 

‘Ye that from God depart, 

While it is called to-day repent, 

And harden not your heart ! ’ ” 


“ Awake, thou Spirit, who of old 
Didst fire the watchmen of the Church’s youth, 

Who faced the foe, unshrinking, bold, 

Who witnessed day and night the eternal truth ; 
Whose voices through the world are ringing still, 
And bringing hosts to know and do thy will ! 

“ Oh that thy fire were kindled soon, 

That swift from land to land its flame might leap! 

Lord, give us but this priceless boon 
Of faithful servants, fit for thee to reap 
The harvest of the soul : look down and view 
How great the harvest, yet the laborers few. 

“ Oh haste to help ere we are lost ! 

Send forth evangelists, in spirit strong, 

Armed with Thy Word — a dauntless host, 

Bold to attack the rule of ancient wrong ; 

And let them all the earth for Thee reclaim, 

To be Thy kingdom, and to know Thy name.” 

Bogatzky, 1690. 


The Mission of the Spirit . 


229 


CHAPTER XVII. 

THE COMFORTER AND THE MINISTRY. 

TT is said that the Prussian embassador at 
-*• the Court of St. James, during the reign of 
Frederick the Great, wrote to his royal master 
complaining that, while other ministers rode to 
court in their carriages, and with liveried serv- 
ants, he was obliged, in view of the smallness 
of his salary, to ride in a hackney-coach. To 
this the king, who was parsimonious in every 
thing else except his army, replied, “ Never 
mind ; when Cousin James sees you coming, he 
always thinks he sees me just behind you with 
a hundred thousand of my Prussians.” 

The idea present to the mind of the king 
was, that however poor, and even shabby, the 
external circumstances of his embassador might 
be, he was backed up by a power which no 
earthly government would care to provoke. 
Without such a power vain were splendid 
coaches, liveried servants, and all the insignia 


230 The Mission of the Spirit. 

of embassadorial rank. With such a power all 
these things sank into comparative insignifi- 
cance. 

This suggests to us the true point of view 
from which we are to regard the Christian min- 
istry. Without the presence and power of the 
Almighty Comforter, vain are all merely external 
aids and appliances. With this power, they 
may not only bid defiance to earth and hell, 
but may succeed grandly in their great work. 
While the feet of the Lord Jesus were still 
pressing the brow of Olivet, ere he had begun 
his " great ascent,” he said to his wondering 
disciples, “ All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth. Go ye therefore , and teach all na- 
tions.” Matt, xxviii, 18, 19. It was in view of 
this that he declared unto them, “Ye shall be 
baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days 
hence.” And again, “Ye shall receive power, 
after that the Holy Ghost has come upon 
you.” Acts i, 5, 8. It was in view of this, also, 
that they were commanded to tarry in the city 
of Jerusalem until they were “endued with 
power from on high.” Luke xxiv, 49. Without 
this power he knew that they were nothing, 
and that they could do nothing ; with it they 


231 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

were to shake the world, and “ turn it upside 
down.” This power was not natural to them, 
nor inherent in them ; it was supernatural, su- 
perhuman, superangelic ; it was divine . It is 
evident, therefore, that the ministry of the 
Church are utterly powerless in the accom- 
plishment of their great work unless called to, 
and qualified for, and mightily aided in it by 
the presence and power of the Holy Ghost. 

M 

i. The call of the Comforter is essential to 
warrant any person to undertake this work . No 
man has the right to take upon himself this 
office and work unless he be thus called by the 
Holy Ghost. No one can make choice of the 
ministry as he would of a trade, or of the profes- 
sion of medicine, of law, of science, or of arms. 
The ministry is not really a profession; it is a 
calling. Many, doubtless, regard it and enter 
upon it as a profession ; but this is a perversion 
of the design of the great Head of the Church. 
Men who thus enter the ministry will never do 
much in the accomplishment of its great work. 
They may go through its round of duties per- 
functorily, but they will never really build up 
the Church, or bring souls to Christ. God has 
never delegated the work of choosing his min- 


232 The Mission of the Spirit. 

isters to any man or any company or class of 
men in the world. He calls his own ministers, 
he appoints his own embassadors ; and these 
are, very frequently, the persons whom the wise 
and prudent of this world would pass by. It 
was not the rulers in Israel — the rich, the wise, 
the mighty — that the Son of God called to be 
his apostles, but the humble fishermen of Gali- 
lee. And the greatest reformers, the brightest 
luminaries of the Church, have had a humble 
origin : Luther, the son of a forgeman ; Melanch- 
thon, coming forth from an armorers shop ; 
Calvin, not the son of wealthy, although of re- 
spectable, parents ; Whitefield, the son of a 
poor innkeeper ; and the Wesleys, the sons of 
a poor minister of the Church of England. 
Thus it has always been ; so it is now. But 
the humbleness of their origin, the unpropitious- 
ness of their circumstances, the deficiencies, in 
some instances, of mental culture, and the rude- 
ness of the speech of some, have been more 
than compensated for by this mighty endow- 
ment. Splendid natural gifts, superior elocu- 
tionary powers, the silver tongue of eloquence, 
the graces of oratory, the vast and varied stores 
of learning, are all well ; they are all to be de- 


233 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

sired, under certain conditions. But neither of 
them, nor all of them combined, will go to make 
up a minister of Christ, nor for Christ. “Not 
many wise men after the flesh, not many 
mighty, not many noble, are called : [“ call 
you.” — McKnight :] but God hath chosen the 
foolish things of the world to confound the 
wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of 
the world to confound the things which are 
mighty ; and base things of the world, and 
things which are despised, hath God chosen, 
yea, and things which are not, to bring to 
naught things that are.” And why is all this ? 
“That no flesh should glory in his presence.” 
i Cor. i, 26-29. Nor is it sufficient, even, that 
a man is a Christian, and in the enjoyment of 
the grace of God in his soul, although this is 
indispensable for the one who is called into this 
work. But it is not every Christian whom God 
calls to the higher ministries of his Church. 
Every Christian, it is true, is called upon to tes- 
tify for Christ, to bear witness in honor of his 
name ; and, in the New Testament sense, every 
Christian is a prophet or a preacher ; but all 
are not called to devote themselves exclusively 
to this work. 


234 The Mission of the Spirit. 

This is a point which cannot be too carefully 
guarded at this time. Now when the laity of 
the Church are awakening to a sense of their 
duties and responsibilities ; when the obliga- 
tions to speak for Christ seem to weigh heavily 
upon many hearts ; when the spirit of testimony 
is given to multitudes of the servants and hand- 
maids of the Lord, care should be taken lest 
they should, in the heat of their zeal, attempt 
to obliterate the distinctive call of the Com- 
forter to the office and work of the ministry — 
lest they should say, with Korah, Dathan, and 
Abiram, “ Ye take too much upon you, seeing 
all the congregation are holy, every one of them, 
and the Lord is among them.” Num. xvi, 3. 
Although all the people of the Lord in a sense 
are holy, yet all are not called to this responsible 
work. The Church may appoint its officers, its 
Sunday-school teachers, and other helpers ; but 
she has no right to set apart any man to the 
work of the ministry, unless he is especially 
moved by the Holy Ghost. It may be said that, 
doubtless, many persons are mistaken in their 
convictions about a call to the ministry. This 
may be so, but they need not be mistaken. 
The inward call to this work stands not alone ; 


235 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

it is always confirmed by corroborative testi- 
mony which need leave no room for doubt. If 
there is room for reasonable doubt on this mat- 
ter, a man should hesitate long before he takes 
upon himself this office, if, indeed, he is war- 
ranted at all to take it upon him. But where 
there are good natural gifts, where there is un- 
doubted piety, where the Holy Spirit puts his 
seal upon the incipient efforts of the one who 
feels that he is called to this work, where the 
eye of the Church recognizes these things, and 
her voice calls him to devote himself to preach- 
ing the Gospel — he who thus enters upon this 
life-work may be well assured that he has not 
run before he was sent. If all these things 
combine to call him to this work, then “woe is 
unto him if he preach not the Gospel.” If, 
however, he lacks the inward call, and the out- 
ward corroborative testimony, let him abide in 
his calling, whatever it may be, and there work 
and speak and live for Christ. 

2. But when a man is thus called by the 
Comforter to engage in this work he will realize 
that his continued presence and power are es- 
sential, not only to give him a fitness for it, but 
also success in it. It has been well said by 


236 The Mission of the Spirit , 

Mr. Arthur, “ If the preaching of the Gospel is 
to exercise a great power over mankind, it must 
be either by enlisting extraordinary men, or by 
the endowing of ordinary men with extraordi- 
nary power.* It is ever to be borne in mind 
that the great design of the Christian ministry 
is twofold : first, to bring lost men, perishing 
and dying men, to Christ ; and, secondly, when 
they have come to Christ and have been saved 
by his grace, to build them up in holiness, and 
love, and faith. Now unless these designs are 
realized by the professed minister of Christ, 
and in so far as they fail of being realized, just 
so far forth is his ministry a failure ; a failure, 
mayhap, not for want of sincerity, not for want 
of culture, not for want of labor, and not even 
for want of both mental and physical energy ; 
but a failure for the want of power, of spiritual, 
divine power. The “ midnight oil ” may be ex- 
pended in the elaboration of his sermons ; all 
the stores of knowledge within his reach may 
be ransacked to enrich and adorn his produc- 
tions ; he may be earnest in his delivery, cogent 
in his reasonings, and splendid in his imagin- 
ings ; and yet his sermons, although “faultily 

* Tongue of Fire, p. 97. 


237 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

faultless” and “icily regular,” may, in their 
moral effects, be “ splendidly null.” “ We may 
stand and gaze,” says an eminent writer, “ upon 
the Aurora Borealis, as it spreads over the 
heavens pure as the blushes upon an angel’s 
face, and yet we grow cold as we gaze.”* So 
many a heart grows cold toward God and 
Christ, as the flashes of intellect or genius daz- 
zle the imagination or please the fancy. 

And, right here, I would ask in all honesty 
and sincerity, Are not many of our Churches at 
the present day making a great mistake in their 
hot haste after men of genius, star-gazers, flash- 
ing meteors, who shall, by their oratorical pow- 
ers, their oddities and eccentricities, or mental 
aberrations, attract a gaping crowd, fill empty 
pews, and stuff empty contribution boxes ? 
“ Verily ” such Churches “ have their reward.” 
Is it not true that any Church, under ordinary 
circumstances, may be crowded, and any minis- 
try made successful, if that ministry is baptized 
with the Holy Ghost, and that Church is in 
earnest in its great work ? Is it not to be 
feared that such ministers as I have referred to 
are sought for the purpose of supplementing the 
* Dr. Todd. 


238 The Mission of the Spirit. 

declining liberality and the withheld labor of a 
cold and frozen Church ? And is it not true 
that, under the given conditions, all the seeming 
growth and prosperity of such Churches is only 
seeming , without any real foundation, and ut- 
terly at the mercy of certain adventitious cir- 
cumstances ? 

But on the other hand, where the ministry 
are anointed with the Holy Ghost, and the 
Churches are earnestly co-operating with them, 
there will be real prosperity, substantial growth. 
There the people will say, “ God is with you of 
a truth.” This anointing, or endowment, or 
baptism, of the Comforter will not make men 
great in the ordinary and accepted sense ; but 
it will make them good, it will make them men 
of power, of usefulness, and of great efficiency 
in the kingdom of God. O it is one thing to 
preach the Gospel without the Holy Ghost, and 
another thing to preach it “ with the Holy 
Ghost sent down from heaven ! ” Look at the 
great difference in the disciples of our Lord 
after they had received this baptism. While 
the Master was with them, there was not any 
thing very remarkable which they either said 
or did. When he was arrested, they all forsook 


The Mission of the Spirit. 239 

him and fled. Peter was cowed before a serv- 
ant-maid, and his countenance was blanched 
with fear as he muttered oaths and curses in 
his denial of Him whom he had promised only a 
few hours before to follow even to prison and to 
death. But only fifty days have passed, and be- 
hold the change ! Right in the midst of the 
city of Jerusalem, right in the face of the Jew- 
ish Sanhedrim, right in the face too of impris- 
onment and death, they boldly preach “Jesus 
and the resurrection.” And Peter, who had 
been the cowardliest of them all, charges the 
Jews with the murder of the Son of God, while 
he offers them life and salvation through his 
blood. And see, while he speaks, while he 
quotes one Scripture after another, every eye is 
fixed, every tongue, for the while, is silent ! 
Then a tremor of horror runs through their 
veins as the conviction that they have crucified 
the Son of God flashes upon their minds. 
Then their bosoms begin to swell and heave 
with sorrow as the heavens grow black with 
wrath over their guilty heads, and the terrible- 
ness of their sin is revealed to them. At length 
they can restrain their pent-up feelings no more, 
and a wild, piercing cry, a wail bursts forth sim- 


240 The Mission of the Spirit. 

ultaneously from thousands of immortal beings, 
“ Men and brethren, what must we do ? ” 

Now I would not say that results of equal 
magnitude will always accompany the gifts of 
the Comforter. The Church, strictly speaking, 
has never had but one Pentecost. The same 
conditions do not always exist, and, indeed, 
these conditions under which the Gospel is 
preached are always varying ; but I do say 
that similar results in their character will, must \ 
follow such a divine baptism. No instance of 
failure is on record. The number of the saved 
may be greater or less, but some will be saved. 
How some ministers can go on from year to 
year in a dull routine of duty, and yet see no 
results of their labors, is a marvel to heaven 
and a triumph for hell. How they can be sat- 
isfied, how they can rest by day or by night, 
how they can live , is more than we can compre- 
hend. Then, again, there are some ministers 
who are keenly alive to their duties and re- 
sponsibilities. They have entered the work of 
the ministry from the purest of motives, and 
under a deep, all-absorbing consciousness of a 
divine call. They are earnest men ; they preach 
with their might ; they study long and hard ; 


241 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

they are diligent in their pastoral work, and of 
course they have measurable success ; but they 
are conscious of a great lack somewhere in their 
ministry. They are not the men of power that 
they want to be. Their usefulness is very far 
below what they feel it ought to be. They 
often ask themselves, “Why is it so ? I study, 
I labor, preach, visit, pray, and the Lord of the 
vineyard knoweth that I am sincere, that I want 
to glorify him only but they ask, with many 
groans and tears, “Why am I not more use- 
ful ? Why do I not bring more souls to 
Christ?” Their closets are vocal with their 
sighs and groans, and bedewed with their tears. 
What shall they do ? They can study with no 
more earnestness than they have, they can em- 
ploy no more physical energy than they have 
done, for perhaps even now they are worn and 
wasted by their exhausting efforts. In their 
agony, at times, they would that the Master 
would release them from their work either by 
calling them home, or by allowing them to en- 
gage in some secular employ. 

To such a one I would say, “ My distressed 
brother, your condition calls forth my most 

hearty sympathies ; but allow me kindly to call 
♦ 16 


242 The Mission of the Spirit. 

your attention to the very thing which you lack, 
giving you credit, as I most certainly do, for all 
honesty and sincerity of purpose, and fidelity in 
labor ; yet one thing thou lackest.” Do you ask 
me, “What is that ?” I answer, “The full bap- 
tism of the Holy Comforter .” I do not mean to 
say that you have not the Comforter. You 
have him with you. He bears witness with 
your spirit that you are a child of God, and his 
comfort, peace, and joy are yours. Nor can I 
doubt that you have been called by him to this 
work ; but, mayhap, for the want of a clear ap- 
preciation of your privilege, for the want of an 
appropriating faith — or, to come still closer 
home, from an unwillingness to pay the price 
and to accept the responsibilities connected 
with this gift — you are not in the enjoyment of 
such an endowment of power as it is your priv- 
ilege to possess. This is what you want, and 
this is all you want. And this you may have 
to-day, now. Even now the Divine Comforter 
is hovering over you ; even now the divine bap- 
tism is ready to descend. Are you ready to 
comply with the conditions ? to put yourself in 
an attitude to receive it ? Do you ask, “ What 
must I do ? ” I answer, “ Make a complete 


243 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

surrender of yourself, your will, your reputa- 
tion, your ambition, your all to Christ. Conse- 
crate all to him forever, and then believe that 
your heaven-ascended, glorified Christ will be- 
stow upon you this gift ; that it is his good 
pleasure to do it, and that he will do it now.” 
“ And will he do it? Yes, blessed be his name ! 
he will.” 

But it must be remembered that this gift will 
not be bestowed upon any one for his personal 
gratification, or to satisfy his ambition, or to 
make it appear that he is something great. If 
it is bestowed it is to make us personally holy — 
to make us useful to others ; while all shall see 
that it is not a power, or a strength of our own 
by which the results following are realized, but 
that “ the excellency of the power is of God.” 
O if we would only put ourselves into connec- 
tion with this power, how mightily God would 
work in us and by us ! And if all the ministers 
of the Lord Jesus were thus anointed they 
would shake all the continents and islands of 
this globe ! A moral resurrection would stir 
and startle this whole valley of death, and an 
exceeding great army would be raised up for the 
service of the Lord our God. And is it not the 


244 The Mission of the Spirit. 

will of God that all his ministers should be thus 
endowed ? Is there any thing lacking in the 
provision for this gift ? Is there any limitation 
in the promise ? Is there any thing in either 
the provision or the promise that would hinder 
any of us from receiving the gift now ? If not, 
the hinderances, the barriers, must be all in us. 
But we may remove them all by the aid of di- 
vine grace. Let them, then, be removed, and 
the living fire will descend, the pent-up waters 
will flow freely. 

In the possession of this power what wonder- 
ful results have already been realized in the 
history of this world ! The day of Pentecost 
and the city of Jerusalem were not the only 
time and place when and where these great 
results have been witnessed. In Rome and 
Corinth, in Philippi and Thessalonica, in Eph- 
esus and Galatia, similar effects were produced, 
until the triumphs had become so general, so 
uniform, and so widespread, that the apostles 
joined in one grand paean: “Now thanks be 
unto God, which always causeth us to triumph 
in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor (odor) 
of his knowledge by us in every place.” 2 Cor. 
ii, 14. The whole Roman empire felt the im- 


The Missio 7 i of the Spirit. 245 

pulse of this moral movement ; the idolatries 
of Egypt, Greece, and Rome were swept away 
before its onward progress. Mooned Ashtaroth 
was vailed, and Osiris was heard no more in 
Memphian grove$. 

“ Peor and Baalim 
Forsook their altars dim;” 

The mount of gods was shaken as by an earth- 
quake ; the thunder fell from the powerless 
hands of Jupiter ; the helmet fell from the brow 
of Mars ; the trident dropped from the dripping 
hand of Neptune, and the charms of Venus 
faded away forever. Even the oracles of Delphi 
and Dodona were struck dumb. It was in view 
of this that Milton sang : 


“The oracles are dumb ; 

No voice or hideous hum 
Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving ; 
Apollo from his shrine 
Can now no more divine, 

With hollow shriek the steep, of Delphos cleaving. 

No mighty trance or breathed spell 

Inspires the pale-eyed priest in his prophetic cell.” 

But these were only external manifestations 
of this divine power which was moving upon 
the hearts of millions. The apostles of our 
Lord were not personally and directly icono- 


246 The Mission of the Spirit. 

clasts. They did not go with ax and sledge- 
hammer to the temples of idols, and hew or 
break them down from their thrones or their 
pedestals ; but, aided and empowered by the 
Comforter, they did go directly to human hearts 
and consciences ; and when idolaters were con- 
verted and saved they first deserted, and after- 
ward destroyed, the idols which they had 
formerly worshiped. And where are now the 
thirty thousand divinities of Egypt, Greece, and 
Rome ? Where, indeed, have they been for the 
last fifteen centuries ? They have literally “ per- 
ished from off the face of the earth.” And they 
have so perished that they could never be restored, 
nor their worship and service revived. All the 
power of Julian the Apostate was not sufficient 
to restore the speech of the oracle at Delphi, or 
to uprear the fallen systems of idolatry which 
the “ preaching of the Gospel, with the Holy 
Ghost sent down from heaven,” had destroyed. 

The reformers in the sixteenth century were 
endowed in like manner, and, consequently, 
their triumphs were great. It was not in their 
own strength that Huss and Jerome were ena- 
bled to “ witness a good confession,” and that the 
last-named went to the stake singing, “ Salve 


247 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

feste dies!" — “Hail, festal day!” It was 
not by his own might that Luther stood like a 

“ Tower impregnable to earth and hell.” 

It was the power of the blessed Comforter which 
nerved the sweet, gentle Melanchthon to stand 
up amid the fiery storm of persecution, scatter- 
ing the rays of heavenly truth around him while 
he lived, and in his dying moments to reply, 
when asked if he wanted any thing more, 
“Nihil, nisi ccelnm ” — “Nothing, unless it be. 
heaven.” This upheld Calvin in the midst of 
his persecutions, and of all the herculean labors 
which he performed for Christ’s cause. This 
made John Knox more terrible to Queen Mary 
than an army with banners. And was it not 
this which winged the fiery logic of John Wes- 
ley with irresistible power, and inspired the 
sweet poetic strains of his brother Charles ? 
And was it not this which melted the heart of 
Whitefield with sorrow and love, and enabled 
him to bring thousands down into the dust at 
the feet of Jesus ? The co-laborers of these 
saintly men, and multitudes of their successors, 
have been animated, inspired, and empowered 
by the same Almighty Agency. 

All the men of superior wisdom and might 


248 The Mission of the Spirit. 

under the Old Testament dispensation, who did 
great things for God and his cause, were said 
to be animated and inspired with the Holy 
Spirit. It was he who dwelt in Joseph, giving 
him illumination and understanding ; that up- 
held and directed Moses in the difficult and 
ofttimes embarrassing positions which he occu- 
pied, and who rested upon the seventy elders, 
so that they also prophesied. He inspired Bez- 
aleel to construct the tabernacle, and Solo- 
mon to build the temple. Joshua was “ full of 
the spirit of wisdom ; ” Othniel and Gideon, 
Amasai and Zechariah were “ clothed with the 
spirit David, Elijah and Elisha, Jahazael and 
Jehoiada, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Dan- 
iel, and all the prophets, were inspired by his 
divine influence. “ So that we have,” says a 
recent writer, “ more than eighty distinct notices 
of the presence and power of the One Eternal 
Spirit before the evangelical effusion of the 
Holy Ghost.” * 

Now the word of God warrants us to believe 
that the Comforter is even now ready to pro- 
duce equal, and even grander, results than have 
ever yet been accomplished, if we will only use 

° Spirit of Life, p. 23. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 249 

the ordained means to secure his sovereign 
agency. There is, there can be, no lack of 
power in the Comforter. Nor is there any lack 
of willingness on his part to reproduce these 
triumphs upon an enlarged scale, and with 
mightier demonstrations. This is, emphatically, 
his dispensation, and we are living at what 
would seem to be the culminating period of 
this dispensation. And can we suppose that 
there is to be any lack of energy or of efficiency 
in his operations? On the other hand, are we 
not warranted to believe that there will be more 
wonderful forth-puttings of his power ? Is not 
the page of revelation luminous with the glow- 
ing prophecies and promises of the glory of 
these latter days ? Is not the Comforter ready 
to come down upon his ministers and his Church 
in richer, fuller, deeper baptisms than have ever 
yet been received ? O then we are not strait- 
ened in him, but we are straitened in ourselves ! 
Our views are narrow, puerile, and unworthy. 
We act from motives unworthy of our high vo- 
cation. We too often seek to please men, when 
we should be in an agony to save them. We 
“court a smile, or woo a grin, when we should 
save a soul.” We do not pray for great things ; 


250 The Mission of the Spirit. 

we do not believe for great things, or expect great 
things. And “ according to our faith, so it is 
unto us.” Many are pigmies when they might 
be giants. We are weak as other men, when 
we ought to be shaking down, bending, and 
breaking the very pillars of Satan’s kingdom. 
O that all the Christian ministers of America, 
and of the world, were clothed with the same 
spirit that the old prophets were clothed with, 
that the apostles were clothed with, and that 
our fathers possessed ! If, then, ye ministers 
of the Lord Jesus, it is your privilege to have 
this Spirit, and to strive with the hosts of hell 
“according to his power who worketh mightily ” 
in the believer, is it not your duty to enjoy this 
gift, this divine endowment ? If your are remiss 
when you know what is your privilege and your 
duty, will you not be accountable for your re- 
missness ? The question comes home now to 
the heart of every minister, “ Are you willing 
to pay the cost of such a baptism ? Are you 
willing to accept the responsibility of receiving 
such a baptism ? There is not, I believe, a 
minister in the land but who would be willing 
to have this power ; yea, farther, who is not 
desirous to have it. But are you willing, ye 


2 5 1 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

consecrated sons of Levi, to have this gift in 
God’s appointed way? True, our heavenly 
Father gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask ; 
but how are we to ask f In faith, certainly. 
But we know well that the exercise of faith is 
conditioned upon the pre-existing state of the 
mind and heart. For instance, Jesus said, 
“ How can ye believe that receive honor one 
from another, and not the honor which cometh 
from God only ?” How, indeed, can we believe 
if we cherish any darling idol which we refuse 
to surrender ; whether it be self, pride, reputa- 
tion, ease, honors, family, position, or whatever 
it may be ? There must be a complete sur- 
render of our all, an entire submission to God, 
and a willingness to be any thing that he would 
have us be. I would not say that we are to be 
willing to be nothing. Alas ! too many are will- 
ing, in a sense, to be nothing — nothing, that is, 
either great or good in the kingdom of God. 
We would be great in the estimation of our 
fellow-men. We want to occupy great positions. 
We want to preach great sermons. And there 
are some, it may be, who would willingly have 
this power if it would advance their interests 
in these directions. But all this must be given 


252 The Mission of the Spirit . 

up, and the soul must come down into the dust 
of the deepest self-abasement, and the lowest 
humiliation before God, if we would have this 
baptism of power. Yes, we must “ask in faith, 
nothing doubting.” That faith must recognize 
our deep, pressing need of this baptism ; a need 
so seen, so felt , that we shall cry mightily unto 
God for it, and never rest until the gift is ours. 
This faith must also recognize that it is the will 
of the Father, and of the Son, that we should 
have the gift, and have it now. We know that 
the Father is ready, that the Son is ready, that 
the Spirit is ready, and that the promise is ready. 
My brethren in the ministry, are we ready ? 
Suppose that the rushing fires of another Pente- 
cost should now come upon us, are we prepared 
to accept the responsibility which that Pentecost 
baptism would bring with it? God does not 
squander his gifts. Now, this baptism of the 
Spirit enables a man to be what otherwise he 
could not be, to do what he could not do without 
it, and to think and speak as nothing else could 
enable him to do. There comes, then, with this 
supernatural endowment a vastly increased 
responsibility to think and speak and do as 
God would have us. There is, indeed, a con- 


253 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

sciousness within the soul of this power, and 
along with that comes the divine requirement 
to act up to the full measure of our acquired 
ability. 

It was so with Isaiah when the living flame 
brought by the seraphim had “ touched his lips, 
and taken away his iniquity, and purged his 
sin.” Instantly he hears the voice of the Lord 
saying, “ Whom shall I send ? and who will go 
for us ? ” And immediately he replied, “ Here 
am I; send me And never was there prophet 
or minister sent upon a more fearful mission. 
“ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye 
indeed, but understand not ; and see ye indeed, 
but perceive not. Make the heart of this peo- 
ple fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut 
their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and 
hear with their ears, and understand with their 
heart, and convert, and be healed.” Isa. vi, 9, 10. 
Without a moment’s hesitation he went, and 
the recorded result of his mission made by him- 
self is, “ All day long have I stretched out my 
hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying peo- 
ple.” And then, after having completed his 
mission, after having uttered God’s message in 
sweetest and sublimest words, he was sawn 


254 The Mission of the Spirit. 

asunder, and his seraphic spirit winged its 
flight to the realms of endless day. He did 
not begin to comprehend, when the vision of 
the glory of the Lord burst upon him in the 
temple, what was the design of God with refer- 
ence to him, what he was to do, and what he 
was to suffer ; but he readily accepted the di- 
vine commission with all its fearful responsibili- 
ties. We might be willing to accept this en- 
dowment of the Comforter if we knew that it 
would lead us to a career of great prosperity 
and usefulness, and thus increase both our effi- 
ciency and our prominence ; but to go forth 
and labor without great, visible, tangible re- 
sults, to be persecuted and despised, to be little 
and unknown, to suffer, mayhap to die , for the 
Lord Jesus — it is from such results that we 
shrink. Perhaps even now, coming, as some 
one may, to the very threshold of this baptism, 
he is ready to shrink. His mind is suggesting 
innumerable difficulties, and Satan is near to 
magnify those difficulties to the uttermost. He 
is standing, halting, trembling, doubting, fear- 
ing. But I would say to that one, Let the 
question now be settled. It has been the ques- 
tion of your religious, your ministerial, life. 


255 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Now then say, “ At whatever cost of sacrifice 
and suffering, whatever responsibility this bap- 
tism may bring with it, I will, I must have it.” 
There is only step more. Believe, and the 
promised gift is yours, the power is yours ; the 
Comforter comes, and not only is every avenue 
of the soul made luminous with his glory, but 
its every power is girded with his strength. 
Do you ask, “ What am I to do with this gift ? ” 
I answer, “ Use it, use it freely, use it con- 
stantly.” The source whence it comes will 
never fail you, for it is infinite, it is inexhausti- 
ble. It has been well said that “The natural 
effect of such a blessing would be moral strength, 
certainty, courage.” It makes the “righteous 
man as bold as a lion.” It “ sets his face like a 
flint.” And if this power is in the soul it will 
be seen and felt in its wonderful effects. Not 
only will its possessor be conscious of its pres- 
ence, but those to whom he ministers will see 
and feel that “God is with him of a truth.” 
And here, dear ministers of the Lord Jesus, is 
what the Church wants, and what the perishing 
world around us imperatively demands. 

There is no doubt of the general correctness 
of the old adage that “ Truth is mighty and will 


256 The Mission of the Spirit. 

prevail.” But God has promised and pledged 
a power to accompany the truth, to give it 
demonstration and efficiency in the accomplish- 
ment of his great designs. This gives to the 
truth its effect upon human souls in convincing, 
regenerating, and sanctifying them. This, this 
is absolutely necessary for this work, and this 
we may have in all its richness and fullness 
even to-day. Shall we have it ? 


The Mission of the Spirit. 257 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


THE COMFORTER AND THE CHURCH. 

F the one hundred and twenty who re- 



ceived the pentecostal baptism only 
twelve, including Matthias, were apostles ; the 
rest were brethren and sisters ; but the “cloven 
tongues sat upon each of them,” and “ they were 
all filled with the Holy Ghost.” So with those 
assembled at the house of Cornelius, when they 
believed the word which was spoken by Peter : 
“ The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard 
the word.” Acts x, 44. And in the narration 
of this event which the apostle made in the 
Council at Jerusalem he says, “ The Holy 
Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning.” 
Acts xi, 15. Thus it was every- where. Be- 
lievers of every condition in life, and of every 
grade of intelligence, received the wonderful 
gift. The promise of the Comforter is unlim- 
ited to any age, or country, or clime, or condi- 
tion in life. It is to “ even as many as the Lord 


17 


258 The Mission of the Spirit. 

our God shall call.” Acts ii, 39. It is to us and 
our children as much as to those who were 
present in the upper room, or who were present 
in Jerusalem at Pentecost. If, therefore, any 
one is destitute of this gift it is either because 
of the want of a clear appreciation of his privi- 
lege, or of an earnest, believing effort to enjoy 
it. No language could possibly be clearer or 
more explicit than that in which this promise 
comes to us, and we are living at a period of 
the world’s history when the Church may con- 
fidently expect more abundant outpourings of 
the Spirit than at any former period of its his- 
tory. It is in these last days that the Spirit 
is to be poured out upon all flesh ; that our sons 
and daughters are to prophesy, our young men 
to see visions, and our old men to dream dreams ; 
that the Spirit is to be poured out upon the 
servants and handmaids of the Church, that 
they may prophesy. (Acts ii, 17, 18.) 

In the early Church all possessed this gift to 
a greater or less degree ; but the gifts of the 
Spirit — his extraordinary gifts — were not alike 
in all. “ There are diversities of gifts, but the 
same Spirit.” 1 Cor. xii, 4, 11. All even then 
did not have “ the gift of healing,” all did not 


259 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

" speak with tongues,” all did not “ work mira- 
cles,” all did not “ interpret ;” but all were “ filled 
with the Holy Ghost.” It was this which con- 
stituted them living members of the body of 
Christ, living branches of the living vine ; it 
was this which made them laborers together 
with God, and which gave their labors such 
wonderful success ; it was this which enabled 
the Church to shake the world, and “ turn it 
upside down.” But when error blinded its sight, 
and a mass of forms and ceremonies stifled its 
breath, and a rush of worldliness paralyzed its 
energies, then it was bereft of its supernatural 
strength, and, like the shorn Samson, both fee- 
ble and blind, it became the sport and the prey 
of its enemies. Like a wire disconnected from 
the battery, or the wheel, with the stream turned 
away, or shut off, from its buckets, or the train 
loosed from the engine, or the body separated 
from the soul, so the Church, separated from 
the Source of its power, became not only in- 
adapted to its work, but, also, incapacitated for 
its performance. Here and there individual 
souls maintained the connection, and expe- 
rienced and manifested the power derived 
therefrom ; but the body at length became a 


260 The Mission of the Spirit . 

putrefying mass, a rotten carcass, over which 
the eagles of destruction swooped, and deep 
into which they plunged their curved beaks. 

The Reformation era witnessed the re- awak- 
ening of men’s minds to the great, although 
long unknown, truths of God’s word. Then 
there was a trumpet-blast which rang out clear 
and strong among the Alps, the Pyrenees, 
and the Appenines, and reverberated from the 
chalky cliffs of Britain’s isle, calling upon the 
nations to arise and shake off the blinding dust 
of the ages from their brows, and to snap the 
fetters which had so long bound them in civil 
and ecclesiastical bondage. The nations, re- 
sponsive to the call, “leaped to loose their 
chains.” The light of the truth, which had 
been concealed by the thick, massy clouds of 
superstition, ignorance, and error, again burst 
forth, and the nations exultingly shouted as they 
beheld its radiance. Just as the inhabitants of 
hyperborean regions, when a night of many 
months is about to pass away, assemble upon 
some mountain-summit, ready to hail with joy 
the first appearance of the sun’s disk emerging 
from the wintry night above the horizon, as the 
first faint rays betokening his approach are 


26 1 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

seen, send up a loud shout which is caught up 
over all the realms where darkness had so long 
held unbroken sway ; so the nations, when they 
saw the first rays of eternal truth, hailed them 
with rapturous joy as the harbingers of an ap- 
proaching day of brightness and glory. But 
great and glorious as was the work accom- 
plished by Luther and his co-lahorers, it was 
not, after all, a revival of pure, spiritual religion. 
It brought out clearly some of the great truths 
of God’s word, and especially that of justifica- 
tion by faith. It furnished the great basal 
truths to the masses which were afterward to 
be employed in the revival of a pure, spiritual 
Christianity ; but it was hindered by fearful 
conflicts with the civil powers, by wranglings 
about mere words, and forms, and ceremonies, 
by an alliance with the State, and by retaining 
many things which still had “ the smell of Rome 
upon them.” It was not until after a two-cen- 
tury baptism of fire, and blood, and death, that 
some of the ministry and laity of the Church 
began to see clearly the need of a revival of spir- 
itual religion. The “ Holy Club ” at Oxford, 
while prayerfully studying that Bible which was 
henceforth to be their “one book,” saw their 


262 The Mission of the Spirit. 

privilege in Christ Jesus, saw the promises at 
first dimly ; but after fasting and praying and 
struggling for weary days and months, the clear 
light shone upon their souls, and another Pen- 
tecost came upon Europe and America. The 
people were now taught, as they had not been 
since the apostolic days, that every one who be- 
lieved should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
regenerating their souls, bearing witness to 
their sonship and heirship, sanctifying them 
wholly, and transforming them after the image 
of the heavenly and the divine. Soon the pul- 
sations of a new life began to beat and throb 
among the masses, and a revival of spiritual re- 
ligion was begun, which is still going on, and 
which will continue until millennial glory bursts 
upon the world. 

And yet, after all, while the results of that 
revival have been of the most glorious charac- 
ter, the Church, as a body, does not understand, 
or measure up to its privilege. What now I 
would say to every Christian is, “You may re- 
ceive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enjoy his 
agency in the complete salvation of your soul, 
and in a full “ preparation for every good work ” 
This is your blood-bought privilege, your heav- 


263 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

enly birthright, the ascension gift of your 
Lord.” More willing — how much more an arch- 
angel could not tell — than evil, earthly parents 
are to give good gifts unto their children, is he 
to give this blessed Comforter to you, and to 
give him to you now. Are you ready now to 
open your hearts and receive the heavenly Mes- 
senger ? He will only come to dwell in your 
hearts when you feel the need of him, and ear- 
nestly ask him to come. He will only abide 
with you if you will not quench his light, or 
grieve him, so as to cause him to take his de- 
parture. 

i. It is clearly evident now that the condition 
of the whole Church imperatively calls for this 
gift of the Comforter. While great things have 
been accomplished during the past century 
under the new Pentecost which came upon the 
Church at its dawn, all earnest Christians are 
deeply impressed with the need that its mem- 
bers have of aiming at a higher position, and 
occupying a higher platform of spiritual experi- 
ence and of spiritual power. This is the great- 
est present need of the Church. This can in 
no sense and to no extent be supplemented by 
the multiplication of material agencies ; nor can 


264 The Mission of the Spirit. 

they substitute this gift. A large increase of 
wealth, of numbers, of church edifices, of insti- 
tutions of learning, is a great cause of rejoicing, 
if it is looked to only as a means and not as an 
e 7 id. But if we look upon these things with a 
self-satisfied complacency, and look no farther 
and no higher, then decline, decay, and death 
will fasten upon the very vitals of the Church. 
A mighty politico-ecclesiastical institution, like 
the Roman Catholic Church, may be consoli- 
dated and perpetuated by superstition, by ap- 
peals to the prejudices and passions of men, and 
by keeping their minds in bondage. But the 
destruction of such an institution is only a 
question of time. It is only “the word of the 
Lord which endureth forever.” “ And this 
is the word which by the Gospel is preached 
unto the people.” A long career of prosperity 
in the Protestant Churches of Christendom has 
given to them wealth, numbers, social position, 
civil power, and world-wide respectability. And 
in many instances these things have acted fear- 
fully against them. Wealth has given rise to 
pride, luxury, fashion, worldly-mindedness, cov- 
etousness, love of forms and ceremonies ; and 
these have, in some instances, smothered, and 


The Mission of the Spirit. 265 

in others eaten out, the very life of the Church. 
Many so-called Christian Churches are the very 
centers of fashion ; in fact, they take delight in 
being known as “fashionable Churches.” The 
assemblies which gather in them on the Sab- 
bath present rather the appearance of a “ dress 
parade” than of companies of Christian wor- 
shipers. Mammon, fashion, lust, are worshiped 
by the thoughtless, giddy, flirting throng. The 
idea of a spiritual religion is scouted by the pul- 
pit and the pew as the very essence of fanati- 
cism and folly. There is only now and then a 
minister so far gone toward rationalism or Rome 
as to denounce “ Protestantism as a failure,” but 
instances of this kind have not been wanting. 
I admit that the cases referred to above are 
exceptional, but that they exist none can doubt ; 
and they are fearful, wicked caricatures of the 
religion of the Lord Jesus. But, I ask, is it not 
true that in very many of our Churches these 
worldly influences are exerting their power ? 
Has not this mania for dress, and fashion, and 
show, seized upon many of the people professing 
godliness ? Are not vast sums, incalculable in 
their amount, annually expended for the gratifi- 
cation of this passion ? Are not the mouths 


266 The Mission of the Spirit. 

of many ministers closed upon this subject for 
fear of giving offense to their rich and fashiona- 
ble members ? Now what is to check, ay, and 
roll back, this in-rushing tide of worldliness ? 
This enemy to spiritual religion is “ coming in 
like a flood.” What, or who, but “the Spirit of 
the Lord can lift up a standard against him ? ” 
But not only so. While the very life of many 
of our Churches is being assailed in this way, 
Romanism on the one hand, and infidelity in 
its thousand forms on the other, stand ready to 
assault, and hope to carry our works, and to 
sweep the Church of Christ from the earth. 
Yea, more. While we are dallying with our 
Delilahs, and parleying traitorously with our 
enemies, immortal souls, treading with rapid 
and fearful strides the broad and beaten high- 
way to hell, are leaping from its fearful preci- 
pices into the rayless darkness of an eternal 
night. Surely, then, we cannot doubt the ne- 
cessity of a marked and wonderful outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit. 

2. This is also needed, not only that we may 
maintain our present status of benevolent and 
evangelistic efforts, and our contributions to- 
ward the various enterprises of the Church, but, 


The Mission of the Spirit. 267 

also, that we may go forward to meet the de- 
mands which are so urgently pressing upon us. 
Under the revival influences of the last century 
the liberality of the Church has increased more 
than a thousandfold. In fact, during the last 
half century most of the benevolent enterprises 
of the Church have been born and carried for- 
ward to their present gigantic proportions ; but 
the providence of God is opening up new fields 
of enlarged dimensions, and is calling upon 
the Church to lift up its eyes and see them 
white already to the harvest, and waving to the 
sickle of the reaper. Now a religion which 
utterly ignores all creature merit, no matter of 
what sort it may be, can never call forth for any 
length of time large benefactions, unless it is 
actuated by the spirit of Christ and inspired by 
his bright and lustrous example. If man can 
be made to think that his contributions and his 
works will entitle him to eternal life, and will give 
him indulgence to live as he lists in the present 
life, then he will give his money without stint 
or measure. This is the grand lever by which 
the Romish Church lifts such vast sums of 
money for the purpose of carrying on her oper- 
ations. This has given her the control at various 


268 The Mission of the Spirit. 

periods of the moneys and estates of nations 
and of kingdoms. But Protestantism presents 
no such plea ; it desires to present no such 
plea. Its claims are based upon Christ’s com- 
mands, his promises, and his example, and it re- 
gards and teaches that the love of Christ is the 
strongest motive and most controlling principle 
which can call forth the liberality and the labors 
of his people. 

But if this love decline, if the throne where 
Christ should reign unrivaled is usurped by the 
world, then the heart will shrivel under the new 
reign, its warmth will be chilled and congealed, 
its views will become warped and narrowed, 
and the cause of Christ will be permitted to 
•languish and decline. Thus we see that the 
presence and power of the Comforter are not 
only needed for our spiritual life, peace, and joy, 
that we may be enabled to live a holy life, that 
we may instrumentally bring souls to Christ ; 
but, also, that the spirit of liberality may be 
maintained and greatly enlarged, until every 
human habitation has been visited with the 
light of the Gospel, and every human heart has 
tasted and tested its power. 

3. The promised presence of the Comforter 


The Mission of the Spirit. 269 

is needed in our Churches, that their members 
may be able to furnish a living exemplification 
of the religion of Christ. The Church is “ the 
light of the world,” “ a city set upon a hill,” to be 
seen by, and to give light to, all that are around. 
It exists for the illumination and salvation of 
the world. The preaching of the Gospel, the 
circulation of the Scriptures, the instruction of 
the people in religion both publicly and pri- 
vately, are valuable and ordained means for the 
upbuilding of the kingdom of Christ ; but noth- 
ing can compare in its efficiency to the prac- 
tical, living demonstration of a holy life to con- 
vince the gainsayer, and to show to the world that 
there is a divine reality in the religion of Christ. 
The world does not go to the Bible, or to insti- 
tutes of theology, or to any of the mighty tomes 
which have been written in defense of Chris- 
tianity, to learn what religion is ; but it expects 
that every one who professes to be a Christian 
shall furnish a specimen of what it is, and of 
what it can do for an immortal being ; and it 
has a right to expect this. The great Teacher 
himself has said, “ By their fruits ye shall know 
them.” “ Men do not gather grapes of thorns, 
nor figs of thistles.” So the great apostle to 


270 The Mission of the Spirit . 

the Gentiles acknowledges the fact and the 
value of such evidence when he says, “ Do we 
begin again to commend ourselves ? or need 
we, as some others, epistles of commendation 
to you, or letters of commendation from you ? 
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known 
and read of all men : forasmuch as ye are 
manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ 
ministered by us, written not with ink, but with 
the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of 
stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” 2 Cor. 
iii, 1-3. Every Christian then should be an 
epistle of Christ, known and read by men, and 
declaring to all what the religion of Jesus can 
do for a poor, fallen, ruined, and guilty sinner. 
The great purpose of constituting the Church 
of Christ in the world is that its “ light may so 
shine before men that they may see its good 
works, and thus be led to glorify our Father 
who is in heaven.” If men profess to be Chris- 
tians, and live like other men — are as vain, 
proud, ambitious, covetous, over-reaching in 
business, or dishonest in their dealings — then 
the natural, the legitimate, result will be that 
the world will not only disbelieve in religion, 
but will come ultimately to despise its very 


271 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

name. Of all the arguments which infidelity 
has adduced in its conflicts against the truth 
of God, none have been so difficult to deal with, 
and none have been plied with a greater effi- 
ciency and a more alarming success, than the 
one arising from the inconsistent, irregular, and 
often hypocritical conduct of many of its pro- 
fessors. 

Nothing has so much power to shut the 
brawling mouth of infidelity as the consistent, 
devoted life of the follower of Christ. A holy 
life is an irresistible and unanswerable argument 
for the truth and reality of the religion of Christ. 
Such a life cannot be manifested unless it be as 
a result of the mighty transforming and sancti- 
fying grace of the Comforter ; but if it were 
generally exhibited to the eye of the world it 
would effectually stay the floods of Rationalism, 
Pantheism, Socialism, and the thousand kin- 
dred antagonisms of our holy Christianity. 
With this power the Church could resist them 
all, as the rocky cliff resists the rushing, roar- 
ing waves of the sea, and breaks them into 
foam at its feet. This is a living, visible tes- 
timony, which all the negations of skepticism 
and its bitter hatred of truth are incapable 


272 The Mission of the Spirit. 

of resisting. There are some men who will 
scoff and sneer at Churches, and creeds, and 
Christians in general, but the mere mention of 
a father’s prayers, and of a mother’s counsels, 
tears, and devoted piety, will hush their clamors, 
and bring burdened tears to their eyes. But 
without the indwelling Comforter men cannot 
live this life of devotion to Christ, and exem- 
plify the principles and the power of his holy 
religion. They may endeavor to imitate it, 
they may strive to galvanize their dead souls 
into something resembling this divine life, but 
all their efforts will prove abortive, and result 
only in their confusion and disgrace. And while 
this cannot be successfully imitated, neither can 
it be compensated. Christ’s kingdom is not of 
this world. It is a divine, a spiritual kingdom ; 
it is “ righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
Holy Ghost.” Such a kingdom can only be 
maintained and extended by spiritual agencies. 
Physical agencies, “bodily exercise,” gorgeous 
rituals and ceremonials, may help to maintain a 
sensuous religion ; but only the Holy Ghost can 
make living Christians, and through them bring 
this redeemed world to Christ. 

4. This is all which the Church now needs to 


273 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

complete its grand mission in the world. I have 
said that this baptism of the Comforter is all 
that the Church needs ; I now say that it has 
this in a measure. What is wanted is the full- 
ness of this grace and power. The machinery 
of the Church, all its means and appliances, is 
well-nigh perfect. The strategic points which 
have been seized upon in the great battle- 
ground of the world are all that could be de- 
sired. There is wealth enough and there are 
numbers enough to speedily conquer this world 
for Christ ; and, added to all this, are the grand 
preparations which Providence has been making 
during the roll of the centuries in leveling the 
mountains, exalting the valleys, smoothing the 
rough places, and straightening its crooked 
ways, so that now the whole world is open to 
the Gospel. Even Rome, the Eternal City, so 
long barred against the entrance of the truth, 
has now been opened in God’s providence ; the 
scepter of temporal sovereignty has fallen from 
the feeble hands of the aged Pontiff, and the 
complete destruction of the system of which he 
is the head is not far distant. Now, also, the 
Bible, that wonderful two-edged sword which 

proceedeth out of the mouth of the Son of God, 
18 


274 77 /tf Mission of the Spirit. 

is translated into more than two hundred of 
the languages and dialects of the world, and is 
ready to exert its power upon a thousand mill- 
ions of its population. Besides this, the “ ends 
of the world ” have evidently come upon us. 
In this period, the lines of prophecy seem to be 
converging, and the blush of the dawn of the 
millennial morning is already upon the face of the 
sky. What is wanted, then, for the grand con- 
summation of our work in the world ? Nothing, 

I say nothing, but this mighty baptism of the Com- 
forter. “ O Christians, is there such a doctrine in 
our creed as the doctrine of divine influence ? Is 
there such an agent in the Church as the Al- 
mighty Spirit of God ? Is he among us ex- 
pressly to testify of Christ ? to be the great 
animating Spirit of his missionary witness — the 
Church ? and is it true that his unlimited aid 
can be obtained by prayer ; that we can be 
baptized with the Holy Ghost, and with fire ? 
O ye that preach, believe the promise of the 
Spirit, and be saved ! Ye that love the Lord, 
keep not silence, send up a loud, long, united, 
and unsparing entreaty for his promised aid! 
This, this is what we want, and this is all we 
want. Till this be obtained all the angelic 


275 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

agency of heaven will avail us nothing, and 
when it is obtained all that agency will be un- 
equal to the celebration of our triumph.” * 

And this divine, almighty agency which we 
need, is at our doors, is even now hovering over 
us. He is waiting, willing, ready now to give 
to his people such an endowment of power as 
will completely equip them for this last strug- 
gle and prepare them for a final and glorious 
victory. There is no lack, then, in our ma- 
chinery, nor is there any want of power in the 
Comforter. What is needed is that his al- 
mighty power should be connected with this 
machinery. It is not enough that the engine 
be perfect in its construction, that the steel- 
plates and brass mountings be well polished, 
that the furnace be well filled with' fuel and the 
boiler with water. All these conditions might 
exist forever, and not a motion of the machinery 
be made. There is another condition yet nec- 
essary — absolutely essential, and that, is fire. 
When that is present all the other conditions 
begin to be employed. Steam is rapidly gen- 
erated, and the whole attached train is drawn 
to its destination, even over the breadth of a 

* “ Church in Earnest,” by J. A. James, p. 267. 


276 The Mission of the Spirit. 

whole continent. So the poles for the telegraphic 
wires may be properly set, and the wires be 
stretched over mountain and valley, hill and 
plain, or the cable be laid down in the ocean’s 
depths, and yet no message be borne over them 
forever ; but now let the battery be attached, 
let the electric current be brought to bear upon 
these wires, and messages will be flashed with 
lightning speed over all the land, down through 
the coral coffins of the sea, among the sporting 
monsters of the deep, and over buried argosies, 
until the whole world is brought into almost 
instantaneous communication. So now let the 
connection be formed between the Eternal 
Spirit and the machinery of the Church, and 
the whole will be set in motion, and messages 
of mercy and of salvation will be borne over 
all lands and over all seas. Still further let me 
illustrate this in the terse language of an ear- 
nest living preacher : “ Go into a room where 
there is a galvanic battery. You see it with its 
cups and plates and coils and wires apparently 
perfect. You propose to try its power upon 
your own person, and so you lay hold of those 
two shining balls, one with either hand, and 
wait for the shock ; but you do not feel it. 


2 77 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

Then for a moment you imagine you feel its 
current thrilling your frame, but sober reason 
says it is not so. You press the balls the 
harder, as though the vigor of your grasp might 
give them power, but no answering thrill comes, 
and you throw them down and seek for the 
cause of the failure ; when right there in the 
heart of the machine, where the power should 
be concentrated, there is no coil, hence no 
power.” * But now let the essential coil be put 
in its place, let the current be applied, and then 
take hold of the balls, and every nerve and 
muscle and fiber of your being will quiver un- 
der the power of the battery ; so when these 
currents of divine influence are brought to bear 
upon dead souls, ay, when they shall be brought 
to bear fully upon the whole valley of death, 
there will be a stir, a noise, a coming together 
of bone to bone, and a great moral resurrection 
will be the result. Take one more illustration 
from the author of the Tongue of Fire : “ Sup- 
pose we saw an army sitting down before a 
granite fort, and they told us that they in- 
tended to batter it down, we might ask them, 

* Rev. W. H. Boole before the New York State Methodist 
Convention. 


2 yS The Mission of the Spivit. 

‘How?’ They point to a cannon-ball. Well, 
but there is no power in that ; it is heavy, but 
not more than half a hundred, or perhaps a 
hundred weight. If all the men in the army 
hurled it against the fort they would make no 
impression. They say, ‘ No, but look at the 
cannon.’ Well, there is no power in that. A 
child may ride upon it, a bird may perch in its 
mouth : it is a machine, and nothing more. 

But look at the powder.’ Well, there is no 
power in that ; a child may spill it, a sparrow 
may peck it, yet this powerless powder and power- 
less ball are put into the powerless cannon ; one 
spark of fire enters it, and then in the twinkling 
of an eye that powder is a flash of lightning, 
and that ball a thunderbolt which smites as if 
it had been sent from heaven. So is it with our 
Church machinery at this day. We have all 
the instruments necessary for pulling down 
strongholds, and O for the baptism of fire ! ” — 
P. 301. 

And why should not this baptism of fire now 
fall upon the Church ? Why should all these 
agencies and means and appliances stand com- 
paratively powerless ? Why should not this 
dead world even now be quivering and shaking 


2;9 


The Mission of the Spirit . 

with the throes of a new birth, and, bursting its 
sepulchral womb, come forth into the life, the 
brightness and glory of the long-promised mil- 
lennium ? It is for the Church to answer why ; 
and although the answer would, doubtless, re- 
veal its sin and shame, it had better be made 
speedily. Yes, we will answer now : “ We have 
failed to understand our privilege and our duty, 
or, when we have known our duty, we have 
either criminally neglected to obtain this gift 
of power, or, by erecting barriers in the way, 
we have hindered the application of the power 
of the Holy Ghost.” 

5. Without this baptism of the Comforter the 
Church will prove itself to be a failure in the 
sight of angels , devils , and men. Let me ask, 
Why was the Church instituted ? For what 
purpose does it exist in the world ? What is 
its mission ? Is it not to evangelize and save 
the world ? The last command of Christ, ere 
“ the chariots of God ” bore him upward to his 
everlasting throne was, “ Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the Gospel to every crea- 
ture to “ teach all nations,” or, literally, to 
make disciples of all nations. And this is not 
merely or solely the duty of the ministry, but 


280 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

also, of the whole membership of the Church. 
Every added member, whether old or middle- 
aged or young, rich or poor, bond or free, is to 
be a “ light-bringer and a light-bearer ,” a preacher 
of the Gospel, a messenger of mercy to this 
world. There is, there can be, no exception to 
this rule. In some way, in some sphere, every 
one is commanded to labor during the brief day 
of life’s probation in the Lord’s vineyard. The 
Church, then, is designed to be a soul-saving 
institution, and every Christian is to be a soul- 
saver ; not, of course, efficiently, but instru- 
mentally. The order of the great Head of the 
Church is universal, exceptionless, differing in 
its application as widely as are the diversities 
of character, position, and relation in life, and 
yet all are to work on in harmony toward the 
same grand result. Just as in a large cotton 
factory, there are wheels of almost every size 
and in almost every position, some nearer to 
the source of power and some more remote, 
some more and some less prominent, some visi- 
ble to the eye of the visitor and others invisi- 
ble ; but amid all the whirl, the confusion, and 
the noise, there is not one wheel, or spindle, or 
hand, but which lends to the production of the 


28 1 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

designed fabric. So, in the Church, diversities 
of gifts and operations there are, but it is the 
same Spirit working in all and through all for 
the accomplishment of his glorious purposes. 
Who can doubt this ? And yet, if it is true, 
how very far have its members come from an- 
swering this design ? The activities of the 
Church in almost every place are confined to 
the few ; the mass of its members are idlers. 
“ The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labor- 
ers are few.” When we ought to be shaking 
the world, or turning it upside down, we are, 
too many of us, settled down into idleness and 
indifference. We are mere pigmies when we 
ought to be giants ; we are dwarfed, stunted, 
powerless, when we ought to be “ mighty 
through God for the pulling down of the 
strongholds of sin and Satan.” O how long 
shall this state of things be continued ! What 
can, what will, wake us up from our slumber- 
ings and engage us earnestly in the work to 
which we are called ! Will God permit an out- 
burst of persecution to arouse the Church, or 
will there come down upon its whole length 
and breadth a mighty effusion of the Comforter ? 
Something must be done, and that right early. 


282 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

And if the Church fails to answer the design of 
its existence it becomes only a weak, shriveled, 
powerless thing. When the living flames ex- 
pire from its altars, then there will be substi- 
tuted in their place, for a season, a merely sen- 
suous religion, a merely formal and outward 
show, and sooner or later will come on a sad 
degeneracy into error, superstition, strife, divis- 
ions, decay, and death. “ Christianity, then, 
would sacrifice its divinity if it abandoned its 
missionary character and became a mere edu- 
cational institution. Surely this article of con- 
version is the true articulus stantis aut cadentis 
ecclesice. When the power of reclaiming the 
lost dies out of the Church it ceases to be the 
Church. It may remain a useful institution, 
though it is most likely to become an immoral 
and mischievous one. Where the power re- 
mains, there, whatever is wanting, it may still 
be said that ‘the tabernacle of God is with 
men.’ ” * 


* Ecce Homo, p. 278. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


283 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE DISPENSATION OF THE COMFORTER THE 
MOST GLORIOUS AND THE LAST. 

TOURING the four thousand years preceding 
the Christian era, two dispensations flour- 
ished, decayed, and vanished away. Each was 
preparatory to, and explanatory of, the other. 
The first was the patriarchal, all dim and shad- 
owy, but adapted to the infancy of the human 
race. While it lasted, “ God revealed himself at 
sundry times and in divers ways.” In two 
marked instances he revealed his “ wrath against 
the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” 
In the one he destroyed the race by a flood ; in 
the other he swept the cities of the plain with 
a storm of fire. There was also revealed to 
men the existence of another higher and purer 
state of existence. Men heard the rustle of 
angels’ wings, saw their bright forms, not only 
in vision, but actually descending from the 
heavens, and then returning thither again ; but 
they learned even more of the existence of that 


284 The Mission of the Spirit . 

higher state of being than this. They probably 
saw the deathless patriarch go up to the heav- 
ens in a chariot of fire, and they knew then 
that the world whence the angels had come 
was not only for them, but for men ; for the 
good, the pure, the holy, such as they knew 
Enoch had been. But above all this, they 
knew that, although the race was fallen, wicked, 
and exposed to God’s wrath, there was a Re- 
deemer, a Saviour provided, through whom “all 
the families of the earth should be blessed.” 
The most explicit promises of Him were given 
to Adam, and repeated to Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob. The coming of “ Shiloh,” to whom “ the 
gathering of the people should be,” was re- 
garded as a certainty, and looked forward to 
with delight and rejoicing. Thus in the gray 
dawn of the world’s history, the light of God 
shone upon the pathway of man, revealing him- 
self, his relation to his creatures as their Al- 
mighty Sovereign, rewarding the righteous and 
punishing the wicked, and opening up before 
his wondering eyes another and a future world. 

The prophetical, or Mosaic, dispensation was 
formally inaugurated upon Mount Sinai in the 
giving of the law, amid the most terrible and 


The Mission of the Spirit. 285 

sublime accompaniments. The tabernacle and 
its worship were formally instituted, and sacri- 
fices, rites, and ceremonies were ordained by 
the direct command of God. A new and a 
brighter era had now dawned upon the world. 
There was now furnished to man not merely a 
traditional revelation of God, but what was far 
better for his understanding and use, a written 
one, with all the great truths which he had 
taught man along the line of the past centuries 
formally gathered up and recorded in “the book 
of the law.” During the fifteen centuries which 
followed, a succession of prophets not only fore- 
told the advent of the Messiah, but also the 
establishment, extension, and glory of his king- 
dom. And yet, glorious as was this dispensa- 
tion in all of its external forms, many intimations 
were given that it was only temporary, that an- 
other and a more glorious one was to dawn, ere- 
long, upon the world, and that amid its bright- 
ening glories the mists and the shadows were 
all to pass away. The prophets referred to that 
on-coming period as “ that day,” “ the last days,” 
“ the day of the Lord.” At length the tones of 
the prophetic harp were hushed, and a night of 
centuries came down upon the Jewish Church, in 


286 The Mission of the Spirit. 

which no voice of God was heard, and no angelic 
messengers were seen by man. At the dawn of 
the morning which followed, and which was ulti- 
mately to culminate in the glories of the millen- 
nium day, “ a voice was. heard in the wilderness ” 
uttering the heraldic cry, “ Prepare ye the way of 
the Lord.” “ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand.” “ He is coming whose shoe-latchets 
I am not worthy to unloose.” “ He shall bap- 
tize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” 
He came. His advent was attended by the 
most remarkable demonstrations on the part of 
the heavenly hosts, who had in countless num- 
bers sung over Bethlehem’s plains, “ Glory to 
God in the highest ! ” until the very air trem- 
bled with the burden of their song, and heaven’s 
high courts were resonant with their exultant 
shouts. Then, after a few brief notices of him, 
he is seen no more until he is “thirty years old.” 
At that time we behold him standing upon 
the banks of the Jordan, ready to be initiated 
into the office of a priest by one regularly de- 
scended from the tribe of Levi, in order “ to 
fulfill all righteousness.” The work is done, by 
what precise form we know not, and then “ the 
heavens are opened, and the Spirit of God, 


287 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

dove-like, descends upon him, while a voice 
from the opened heavens says, “This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 
Here, then, we behold the whole Trinity — the 
Son, in human flesh, the Spirit like a dove 
hovering over him, and the Father speaking 
from the heavens, bearing his testimony to his 
incarnate Son. Wonderful scene ! Grand in- 
auguration of the Son of God into his priestly 
and prophetical offices ! 

His great life-work is now fairly begun, and 
after forty days of fasting in the wilderness he 
is brought into immediate conflict with the 
prince of darkness. Thrice assaulted by him, 
he is in each assault the victor ; the thunder- 
scarred head of the arch-fiend is bruised by his 
conqueror, and he receives the premonitions of 
his final and complete subjugation. Three 
years of unceasing teaching and miracle-work- 
ing follow. At length his departure from earth 
is at hand. Intimations of this fill the hearts 
of his disciples with sorrow and grief ; but he 
assures them of the coming of “ another Com- 
forter, who shall abide with them forever.” 
Then he is taken by his enemies, and “by 
wicked hands is crucified and slain.” But he 


288 


The Missioji of the Spirit. 

rises again, . and for forty days he appears at in- 
tervals to give assurance of his resurrection to 
his disciples. Then he ascends to his Father 
and our Father, to his God and our God. He 
sits down upon his regal and mediatorial throne, 
the joy of all heaven, the center of its bliss. 
But he does not forget his disciples who are 
waiting and longing for the fulfillment of his 
promise. And when the day of Pentecost has 
fully come, he sends down the Comforter with 
all his gifts, his grace, and power. 

The new, the Christian dispensation, is now 
inaugurated. The ceremonial law has evan- 
ished, and the moral law exists no more as the 
ground of man’s acceptance with God. The “ do 
this and live ” economy has passed away, and 
the “ believe and be saved ” dispensation is now 
in force. Panoplied with the might and power 
of the Divine Comforter, the infant Church 
sprang at once into the very midst of the arena 
of conflict with the philosophies, the mytholo- 
gies, the idolatries, the superstitions, and the 
wrongs of the world, and with its mighty spirit- 
ual weapons began to pull down the strongholds 
of the kingdom of darkness. Persecuted, hated, 
imprisoned, butchered, as were its members, yet 


The Mission of the Spirit. 289 

their numbers increased, and “ the word of God 
mightily grew and prevailed.” “ But if the min- 
istration of death, written and engraven in stones, 
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could 
not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the 
glory of his countenance ; which glory was to 
be done away ; how shall not the ministration 
of the spirit be rather glorious ? ” 2 Cor. iii, 7, 8. 
But great and glorious as were the triumphs of 
the early Church, the present day is witnessing 
scenes which are only equaled, but scarcely sur- 
passed, by them. The dawn of the nineteenth 
century witnessed the most enlarged prepara- 
tions for the speedy conversion of the world to 
Christ. Organizations began to be multiplied 
for the concentration of the piety, the benefi- 
cence, and the labors of the Church. And as 
its operations were enlarged, and its convictions 
of duty were intensified, Divine Providence was 
opening one door after another before its won- 
dering eyes, until now the whole world is open 
to the messengers of the Gospel. These organ- 
izations, as we have seen, were born in the midst 
of the revival which began in the eighteenth cent- 
ury, and were baptized with the same Spirit who 

inspired the triumphs of the apostolic age. And 
19 


290 The Mission of the Spirit. 

under these mighty agencies which have been 
called into requisition, whole districts of the 
earth have been evangelized and Christianized. 
The inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands have 
been reclaimed from superstition and barbarism, 
and the last relics of their former idols and idol- 
atrous practices have almost totally disappeared. 
Their large and flourishing Churches have not 
only become independent and self-supporting, 
but, in turn, are sending out missionaries for 
the conversion of the islands of the sea to 
Christ. The Fiji Islanders, from idolatry, bru- 
tality, and cannibalism, have been brought un- 
der the influence of the Gospel, and have sat 
down at the feet of Jesus, “ clothed, and in their 
right mind.” More recently still, the island of 
Madagascar, where hundreds of the followers of 
Jesus formerly sealed their testimony with their 
blood, and had furnished a martyrology which, 
in many instances, was equal to that of the 
early years of the Church, has been brought 
under the power of the Gospel. Its idols have 
been publicly burned, its bloody altars have 
been overthrown, its temples have either been 
deserted and destroyed, or else converted into 
houses for Christian worship, and its queen has 


291 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

become, in a sense at least, a nursing mother to 
the Church. In hyperborean regions, as well 
as on the banks of the Ganges and the Irrawaddy ; 
in Africa and in China, in Turkey and in Hin- 
dostan, and, indeed, in most of the languages 
and dialects of the world, there are tongues 
which speak the Saviour’s praise. But not only 
so ; while this mighty baptism has been upon 
the Church, and its forward movements have 
been crowned with such signal success, directly 
or indirectly traceable to the same influence is the 
great work which has been wrought in the cause 
of human liberty. England has emancipated 
the millions of her slaves ; Russia has lifted up 
thirty millions of serfs from their degraded and 
enslaved condition ; and America, in the midst 
of a baptism of blood and tears, struck the man- 
acles from the limbs of four millions of slaves, 
and has since asserted their manhood, and 
granted to them the elective franchise. 

“ The light ! the light ! it breaks ; 

Light on the chain of the slave, 

The light of God on the laborer’s home. 

Light on the martyr’s grave ! ” 

If this is the last and most glorious dispensa- 
tion!, certainly we are beginning to see the cul- 


292 The Mission of the Spirit. 

mination of its glories. Much as has been said 
of the activities and energies of this age, “ the 
half has never yet been told.” There is no man 
living who is fully capable of grasping in his 
mind, no matter how enlarged its powers may 
be, the mighty influences which are at work, 
and the mighty changes which are, even now, 
going on in human society. The rapid disap- 
pearance of great wrongs which had for ages 
rooted themselves in the constitutions and gov- 
ernments of the world ; the fading away of idol- 
atrous systems ; the recent overthrow of the 
temporal power of the Beast, which will be fol- 
lowed ere long by the destruction of the power 
of the False Prophet ; the multiplication of fa- 
cilities for the evangelization of the world ; the 
rapid increase of agencies for this work ; the 
binding of continents together by rails of iron 
and steel ; the union of oceans by canals, and 
the girdling of the earth with telegraphic wires, 
are all events which in their magnitude and 
significance are above the comprehension of 
mere finite intelligences. And yet, grand and 
glorious as these events are, they do not begin 
to answer the prophetical descriptions of the 
full glory of this dispensation of the Comforter. 


293 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

What we now see is only the dawn of the morn- 
ing ; what the prophets saw in vision was 
the full glory of the meridian of a day which 
will fill all earth and heaven with hosannas and 
halleluias. 

This is God’s last dispensation of mercy to- 
ward our world, and this is rapidly drawing 
toward its close. The Father has worked, and 
the Son has worked, and now, for ages, the 
Holy Ghost has been working. We have not 
discerned his agency or felt his power as we 
might have done. But his work, in connection 
with the redemption of our world, is now being 
better understood, more fully appreciated, and 
more heartily trusted in, than at any former 
period. It only wants that the Church, the 
whole Church, should cry more mightily to 
God for the fuller manifestation of the Com- 
forter, and it will be realized in a manner hith- 
erto unknown. “ Whatever increase Christ’s 
kingdom has received from the beginning down 
to these times, it has received through the 
power of the Comforter ; and if it is receiving 
any at this day, if we find reason to bless God 
for the manner in which the heathen in any 
part of the earth are now coming into his king- 


294 The Mission of the Spirit. 

dom, our especial thanksgiving and praise are 
due to the Comforter, who is still working his 
threefold conviction, and casting down the 
abominations of idolatry thereby.” * 

And are we not warranted to expect results 
upon a grander scale than any that have yet 
been realized ? Is it not apparent, from what 
he has already wrought, that the Comforter “ is 
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that 
we ask or think, according to the power 
that worketh in us ? ” Eph. iii, 20. As yet 
we have only seen and known a part of his 
ways ; but the fullness, the thunder of his 
power, who can understand ? He has but in a 
partial manner, and in a few places, displayed 
his power, and we have lifted up our hands in as- 
tonishment and exclaimed, “ Wonderful ! Won- 
derful ! ” But if our faith properly appreciated 
the work of the Comforter we should not only 
expect to see these, but also far greater things. 
O, the time hastens when he will lift the vail from 
the long blinded mind of the Jewish people, and 
they shall look upon him whom they have 
pierced and mourn, “as one mourneth for an 
only son!” The Beast and the False Prophet 

0 The Mission of the Comforter. Hare, p. 181. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 295 

shall be overthrown and cast into the lake of 
fire. Idolatry, which, in one form or another, 
has cursed and crushed millions of the world’s 
population for thousands of years, shall be de- 
stroyed, with all its fearful train of superstitions 
and abominations, its lusts, and its crimes. In- 
temperance, the vile monster, which has by its 
arts degraded and ruined millions during the 
past centuries, shall come to an end, and its 
power shall be completely destroyed. All forms 
of vice and iniquity shall be banished from the 
world, and “ righteousness and joy and peace ” 
shall reign for ever and ever. Then “ the earth 
shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of 
the Lord as the waters cover the sea/’ No one 
shall have to say to his neighbor, “ Know the 
Lord : for all shall know him from the least 
even unto the greatest.” Then the luminous 
and sublime predictions of David, Isaiah, Jere- 
miah, and Daniel will be fully realized, and the 
glowing utterances of the Apocalypse will have 
their glorious completion. 

I am not, by any means, unaware of the great 
and formidable difficulties which lie in the way 
of the accomplishment of these results. But 
what are difficulties in the presence of the 


296 The Mission of the Spirit. 

Almighty, the Eternal Spirit ? If the promise 
and the oath of God are pledged for their ac- 
complishment, what else does our faith need to 
rest upon ? Our glorified Christ has provided 
for the full and complete redemption of our hu- 
manity and our world, and “he will not fail 
nor be discouraged” until this work is done. 
In harmony with this provision, ay, as an in- 
tegral part of this provision, the Comforter has 
come forth to complete and consummate this 
work. And this he has been and still is doing 
gloriously. Invisible to the human eye, he is 
acting directly upon human souls, bowing them 
down by his power, illuminating them with his 
light, lifting them up from their degradation and 
ruin, transforming them by his grace, restrain- 
ing often, even where he does not renew, and 
checking where he does not convert ; cease- 
lessly active by day and by night, in all coun- 
tries and in all climes, never losing sight for one 
moment of his great purpose, and never relaxing 
his omnipotent energies. And now, even now, 
he is ready to come down upon the whole 
Church and the whole world, and to bring the 
millions of the world down into the dust at the 
feet of Jesus. 


297 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

One thing we must remember here — that all 
the while he is doing this work he does not tes- 
tify of himself. Thus the Saviour declared, 
“ He shall not speak of himself ; but what he 
shall hear, that shall he speak.” He testifies 
of Christ. He is drawing the attention of the 
world to Christ. And there never was the time 
when all classes of men were so busily engaged 
in looking at him. Men cannot keep their eyes 
off him. He is hated and despised by multi- 
tudes ; his divinity and authority are denied, 
and yet they keep looking at him and his cross. 
Strauss and Renan, Parker and Emerson, and 
a host of other names, have called the attention 
of millions to his claims, who otherwise might 
not have thought of them. Their utterances 
are listened to by the world, but when they have 
died away the name of Jesus is plowed deeper 
into the hearts of men than ever before. Just 
as, during the prevalence of the storm, the sun 
is obscured by heavy masses of clouds, but 
when the storm is over we forget the blackened 
sky, the clouds, and the tempest, and see only 
the sun enthroned in the heavens and flooding 
the world with his glory ; so men rage against 
Christ, and sometimes, for a season, may ob- 


298 The Mission of the Spirit. 

scure his glory by their sophistries or their 
wrath ; but the storm passes over, the clouds 
are brushed away, and we see Jesus sitting 
upon the throne of the universe, and on “ his 
head are many crowns.” Or, as on the Mount 
of Transfiguration, when the cloud came down 
upon its brow, the disciples feared as they 
entered into it, and there was a voice sounding 
out from the excellent glory, and Moses and 
Elijah were manifested; but when the cloud 
was lifted up “ they saw no man , save Jesus 
only!' So the Comforter will exalt Jesus before 
the world, and even the whole universe. For 
“ unto him every knee shall bow, and every 
tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory 
of God the Father.” He is now convincing the 
world more fully than at any previous time 
that its great sin is unbelief in Christ ; that the 
source of its righteousness is only to be found in 
Christ, and that Christ is to be the final judge 
of all its inhabitants. And not only so ; he is 
taking of the things of Christ and showing them 
to his people as never before. He is uncover- 
ing the depths of their corruptions in order to 
lead them to the fountain of his blood, where all 
may be washed away. He is opening up their 


299 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

eyes to see the length and breadth and height 
of Christ’s redeeming love. Under his inspiring 
presence and power they are awakening to gird 
themselves with his own divine strength, and 
to robe themselves in the beautiful, spotless 
garments of the Redeemer’s righteousness. 
And when they shall be thus girded and thus 
robed, they will radiate the world with his re- 
flected glory, and shake it to its very center by 
his imparted power. One only condition is es- 
sential in order to realize this wonderful gift of 
the Comforter for the production of these grand 
results, and that is, believing prayer. O ye serv- 
ants and handmaids of the Lord, “ keep not si- 
lence, and give the Lord no rest until he estab- 
lish, and until he make Jerusalem a praise in 
the earth ! ” God is now moving wonderfully 
among the nations. Thrones of tyranny and 
oppression are crumbling into the dust ; hoary 
systems of error and superstition are passing 
away ; a mighty upheaval is now going on ; all 
men are looking on, and wondering what will 
come next. O blessed, Holy Comforter, finish 
speedily thy great work in this world ! Amen, 
and Amen ! 


VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS. 


I. 

Veni, Creator Spiritus, 
Mentes tuorum visita, 
Imple superna gratia, 

Quae tu creasti pectora. 

II. 

Qui Paraclitus diceris 
Donum Dei altissimi, 

Fons vivus, ignis, charitas, 
Et spiritalis unctio. 

III. 

Tu septiformis munere, 
Dextrae Dei tu digitus, 

Tu rite promissum Patris, 
Sermone ditans guttura. 

IV. 

Accende lumen sensibus, 
Infunde amorem cordibus, 
Infirma nostri corporis, 
Virtute firmans perpeti. 


VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS. 

TRANSLATED BY ABRAHAM COLES, M. D., PH. D. 

I. 

Creator, Spirit, Guest Divine, 

Come, visit and inhabit Thine ; 

Enter the mind’s most holy place, 

And breasts Thou madest fill with grace. 

II. 

Thou who art called the Paraclete, 

Of God Most High the Gift Complete, 

The living Fount, the Fire, the Love, 

And Holy Unction from above. 

III. 

Sevenfold the gifts at Thy command, 
Finger of God’s supreme right hand, 

The promise of the Father, who 
Dost throats enrich with utt* ranee new. 


IV. 

Kindle the senses, light impart ; 
Infuse Thy love in every heart ; 
Weaken our body’s bent to wrong ; 
In lasting virtue making strong. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 

V. 

Hoftem repellas longius, 
Pacemque dones protinus ; 
Ductore sic te praevio 
Vitemus omne noxium. 

VI. 

Per te sciamus da Patrem 
Noscamus atque Filium, 
Teque utriusque Spiritum 
Credamus omni tempore. 

VII. 

Deo Patri fit gloria 
Et Filio, qui a mortuis 
Surrexit, ac Paraclito 
In saeculorum saecula. 


Carolus Magnus. 


The Mission of the Spirit. 


303 


V. 

Drive farther off the hellish foe, 

And constant peace henceforth bestow. 
May we — Thou, Leader in the way — 

All evil shun, nor go astray. 

VI. 

Grant we may know in verity 
The Father and the Son through Thee ; 
And in all time may Thee believe 
Spirit of Both, and so receive. 

VII. 

Be God the Father glorified, 

And God the Son who for us died 
And rose, and God the Paraclete, 

Ages on ages infinite. 

Charlemagne, (beginning of ninth century.) 


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